telling signs

Question

What does 'telling signs' mean?The king was required to undergo an evaluation.... Whether he was still fit to lead was determined by telling signs in the night sky, such as unusual meteor activity, rather than his past performance as a king.

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

tell·ing, adj.
1. having force or effect; effective; striking: a telling blow.
2. revealing; indicative of much otherwise unnoticed: a telling analysis of motivation in business.

sign, n.
1. a token; indication.
2. any object, action, event, pattern, etc., that conveys a meaning.
3. a conventional or arbitrary mark, figure, or symbol used as an abbreviation for the word or words it represents.
4. a motion or gesture used to express or convey an idea, command, decision, etc.: Her nod was a sign that it was time to leave.
5. a notice, bearing a name, direction, warning, or advertisement, that is displayed or posted for public view: a traffic sign; a store sign.
6. a trace; vestige: There wasn't a sign of them.
7. an arbitrary or conventional symbol used in musical notation to indicate tonality, tempo, etc.
8. Med. the objective indications of a disease.
9. any meaningful gestural unit belonging to a sign language.
10. an omen; portent: a sign of approaching decadence.
11. See sign of the zodiac.
12. See sign language (def. 1).
13. Usually, signs. traces, as footprints, of a wild animal.
14. Math.
a. a plus sign or minus sign used as a symbol for indicating addition or subtraction.
b. a plus sign or minus sign used as a symbol for indicating the positive or negative value of a quantity, as an integer.
c. See multiplication sign.
d. See division sign.
e. a symbol, as Ö or !, used to indicate a radical or factorial operation.
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