chime

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a melodious ringing sound, or a set of tuned bells or metal bars that produces it

   The clock's midnight chime carried across the empty square.

2. 2
   verb

   to make a clear, musical ringing sound

   The church bells chimed as the procession began.

3. 3
   verb

   to join a conversation with a remark, especially in the phrase chime in

   Maya chimed in with a practical suggestion.

4. 4
   verb

   to agree or be consistent with something

   His account does not chime with the evidence collected at the scene.

Multiword verbs with chime

• chime in Phrasal verb C2

  to join a conversation by adding a comment

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Chime was first recorded in Middle English as a noun meaning “cymbal” and as a verb meaning “ring out.” It probably developed from Old English cimbal, pronounced with an initial “ch” sound, after the word was reinterpreted as chime bell.

From Middle English chime, a shortening of chimbelle, a word for a set of bells. Chimbelle developed from Old English cimbala, 'cymbal,' borrowed from Latin cymbalum and ultimately Greek kymbalon. The figurative senses of joining in or agreeing arose from voices or ideas sounding harmoniously together.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary