bell
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Old English belle, from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ. Cognate with Dutch bel.
Noun[edit]
bell (plural bells)
- 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.
- 1848, Edgar Allan Poe, "The Bells"
- HEAR the sledges with the bells —
- Silver bells!
- What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
- 1848, Edgar Allan Poe, "The Bells"
- The sounding of a bell as a signal.
- 2011 December 18, Ben Dirs, “Carl Froch outclassed by dazzling Andre Ward”, BBC Sport:
- 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.
- 2011 December 18, Ben Dirs, “Carl Froch outclassed by dazzling Andre Ward”, BBC Sport:
- (chiefly UK, informal) A telephone call.
- I’ll give you a bell later.
- A signal at a school that tells the students when it's time to change classes during the day.
- (music) The flared end of a brass or woodwind instrument.
- (nautical) Any of a series of strokes on a bell (or similar), struck every half hour to indicate the time (within a four hour watch)
- The flared end of a pipe, designed to mate with a narrow spigot.
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from bell (noun)
Translations[edit]
percussive instrument
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sounding of a bell as a signal
informal: telephone call
signal at a school
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the flared end of a brass or woodwind instrument
nautical: any of a series of strokes struck to indicate time
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
See also[edit]
Verb[edit]
bell (third-person singular simple present bells, present participle belling, simple past and past participle belled)
- (transitive) To attach a bell to.
- Who will bell the cat?
- To shape so that it flares out like a bell.
- to bell a tube
- (slang, transitive) To telephone.
- 2006, Dominic Lavin, Last Seen in Bangkok
- "Vinny, you tosser, it's Keith. I thought you were back today. I'm in town. Bell us on the mobile.
- 2006, Dominic Lavin, Last Seen in Bangkok
- (intransitive) To develop bells or corollas; to take the form of a bell; to blossom.
- Hops bell.
Translations[edit]
to attach a bell to
to shape as a bell
Etymology 2[edit]
Old English bellan. Cognate with German bellen (“to bark”).
Verb[edit]
bell (third-person singular simple present bells, present participle belling, simple past and past participle belled)
- (intransitive) To bellow or roar.
- 1774, Oliver Goldsmith, A History of the Earth, and Animated Nature:
- This animal is said to harbour in the place where he resides. When he cries, he is said to bell; the print of his hoof is called the slot; his tail is called the single; his excrement the fumet; his horns are called his head [...].
- (Can we date this quote?) Rudyard Kipling
- As the dawn was breaking the Sambhur belled / Once, twice and again!
- 1955, William Golding, The Inheritors, Faber and Faber 2005, p. 128:
- Then, incredibly, a rutting stag belled by the trunks.
- 1774, Oliver Goldsmith, A History of the Earth, and Animated Nature:
Translations[edit]
to bellow
Noun[edit]
bell (plural bells)
Translations[edit]
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin bellus
Adjective[edit]
bell m (feminine bella, masculine plural bells, feminine plural belles)
Related terms[edit]
References[edit]
- Institut d'Estudis Catalans (1995). Diccionari de la llengua catalana (4ta. edició). ISBN 84-412-2477-3.
