bell

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the sound of a bell being struck

   saved by the bell

2. 2
   noun

   (nautical) each of the eight half-hour units of nautical time signaled by strokes of a ship's bell

   eight bells signals 4:00, 8:00, or 12:00 o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.

3. 3
   verb

   to attach a bell to

   They belled the cows to keep track of them.

4. 4
   noun

   A percussive instrument made of metal or other hard material, typically but not always in the shape of an inverted cup with a flared rim, which resonates when struck.

   HEAR the sledges with the bells — Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

5. 5
   noun

   The sounding of a bell as a signal.

   Referee Steve Smoger was an almost invisible presence in the ring as both men went at it, although he did have a word with Froch when he landed with a shot after the bell at the end of the eighth.

6. 6
   noun

   A telephone call.

   I’ll give you a bell later.

7. 7
   noun

   Anything shaped like a bell, such as the cup or corolla of a flower.

   In a cowslip's bell I lie.

8. 8
   noun

   A bubble.

   He swam to the place where Mary disappeared but there was neither boil nor gurgle on the water, nor even a bell of departing breath, to mark the place where his beloved had sunk.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der. Proto-Germanic *bellǭ Proto-West Germanic *bellā Old English belle Middle English belle English bell From Middle English belle (“bell”), from Old English belle (“bell”), from Proto-West Germanic *bellā (“bell”), Proto-Germanic *bellǭ (“bell”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to sound”). Cognate with West Frisian belle, bel (“bell”), Dutch bel (“bell”), Low German Belle, Bel (“bell”), Danish bjælde (“bell”), Faroese bjølla (“bell”), Icelandic bjalla (“bell”), Norwegian bjelle (“bell”), Swedish bjällra (“bell”).