hell

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a cause of difficulty and suffering

   war is hell

2. 2
   noun

   any place of pain and turmoil

   the hell of battle

3. 3
   name

   A place of torment where some or all sinners are believed to go after death and evil spirits are believed to be.

   May you rot in hell!

4. 4
   noun

   A place or situation of great suffering in life.

   My new boss is making my job a hell.

5. 5
   noun

   A place for gambling.

   Here’s five-and-twenty for you. Don’t be losing it at the hells now.

6. 6
   noun

   An extremely hot place.

   You don’t have a snowball's chance in hell.

7. 7
   noun

   Used as an intensifier in phrases grammatically requiring a noun.

   She's got her arms down to her side, defiant. But just for the hell of it, she leans into him, wraps her arms around his neck, puts her head on his shoulder, and hangs on tight.

8. 8
   noun

   A place into which a tailor throws shreds, or a printer discards broken type.

   This sturdy Squire, he had, as well As the bold Trojan Knight, seen Hell.

Etymology

From Middle English helle, from Old English hell, from Proto-West Germanic *hallju, from Proto-Germanic *haljō (“concealed place, netherworld”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal, save”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälle (“hell”), West Frisian hel (“hell”), Dutch hel (“hell”), German Low German Hell (“hell”), German Hölle (“hell”), Norwegian helvete (“hell”), Icelandic hel (“the abode of the dead, death”). Also related to the Hel of Germanic mythology. See also hele.