bell : Idioms & Phrases

• noun the sound of an alarm (usually a bell)
  tocsin.
  

WordNet

• a bell that gives notice on danger.

Webster 1913

• noun United States inventor (born in Scotland) of the telephone (1847-1922)
  Alexander Bell; Bell.
  

WordNet

• noun United States inventor (born in Scotland) of the telephone (1847-1922)
  Alexander Bell; Bell.
  

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• noun a phonetician and father of Alexander Graham Bell (1819-1905)
  Alexander Melville Bell; Bell.
  

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• noun the sound of a bell rung in Roman Catholic churches to announce the time when the Angelus should be recited
  angelus.
  

WordNet

Bell" an`i*mal"cule

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) An infusorian of the family Vorticellidæ, common in fresh-water ponds.

Webster 1913

• noun the edible yellow fruit of the Jamaica honeysuckle
  sweet cup; water lemon; yellow granadilla.
  

WordNet

• noun a round arch resting on corbels
  

WordNet

• (Arch.), an arch of unusual form, following the curve of an ogee.

Webster 1913

Bell" bear`er

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) A Brazilian leaf hopper (Bocydium tintinnabuliferum), remarkable for the four bell-shaped appendages of its thorax.

Webster 1913

• noun a logbook in which all orders concerning the main engines of a ship are recorded
  

WordNet

• noun a buoy with a bell on it
  gong buoy.
  

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• (Arch.), a timber frame constructed to carry one or more large bells.

Webster 1913

• noun the supervisor of bellboys in a hotel
  

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• noun a small shelter for bells; has a gable or shed roof
  bell cot.
  

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• (Arch.), a small or subsidiary construction, frequently corbeled out from the walls of a structure, and used to contain and support one or more bells.

Webster 1913

• noun a small shelter for bells; has a gable or shed roof
  bell cot.
  

WordNet

Bell" crank`

Definitions

1. A lever whose two arms form a right angle, or nearly a right angle, having its fulcrum at the apex of the angle. It is used in bell pulls and in changing the direction of bell wires at angles of rooms, etc., and also in machinery.

Webster 1913

• noun a floor under the bells of an open belfry
  

WordNet

• (Arch.), the floor of a belfry made to serve as a roof to the rooms below.

Webster 1913

• noun a person who casts metal bells
  

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• one whose occupation it is to found or cast bells.

Webster 1913

• noun a foundry where bells are cast
  

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• a place where bells are founded or cast.

Webster 1913

• noun an extension of a gable that serves as a bell cote
  

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• (Arch.), a small gable-shaped construction, pierced with one or more openings, and used to contain bells.

Webster 1913

• noun a bell-shaped glass cover used to protect and display delicate objects or to cover scientific apparatus or to contain gases
  bell glass.
  

WordNet

• . See Bell jar.

Webster 1913

• a man who hangs or puts up bells.

Webster 1913

• noun dwarf European shrub with rose-colored flowers
  Erica tetralix; cross-leaved heath.
  
• noun common low European shrub with purple-red flowers
  fine-leaved heath; bell heather; Erica cinerea.
  

WordNet

• noun a bell-shaped glass cover used to protect and display delicate objects or to cover scientific apparatus or to contain gases
  bell glass.
  

WordNet

Bell" jar`

Definitions

1. (Phys.) A glass vessel, varying in size, open at the bottom and closed at the top like a bell, and having a knob or handle at the top for lifting it. It is used for a great variety of purposes; as, with the air pump, and for holding gases, also for keeping the dust from articles exposed to view.

Webster 1913

• noun bluish black fruit-eating bird with a bell-like call
  currawong.
  

WordNet

• noun bronze with 3 or 4 parts copper to 1 part tin; used in making bells
  

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Bell" met`al

Definitions

1. A hard alloy or bronze, consisting usually of about three parts of copper to one of tin; -- used for making bells.

Webster 1913

• noun a morel whose fertile portion resembles a bell and is attached to the stipe only at the top
  Verpa.
  

WordNet

• noun plant bearing large mild thick-walled usually bell-shaped fruits; the principal salad peppers
  pimiento; sweet pepper plant; sweet pepper; paprika; pimento; Capsicum annuum grossum.
  
• noun large bell-shaped sweet pepper in green or red or yellow or orange or black varieties
  

WordNet

Bell" pep`per

Definitions

1. (Bot.) A species of Capsicum, or Guinea pepper (C. annuum). It is the red pepper of the gardens.

Webster 1913

• a cord, handle, or knob, connecting with a bell or bell wire, and which will ring the bell when pulled. Aytoun.

Webster 1913

• a kind of conductor's punch which rings a bell when used.

Webster 1913

• noun a button that is pushed to ring a bell
  

WordNet

• noun a person who rings church bells (as for summoning the congregation)
  toller; ringer.
  
• noun someone who plays musical handbells
  
• noun something that exactly succeeds in achieving its goal
  bull's eye; home run; mark.
  
  • the new advertising campaign was a bell ringer
  • scored a bull's eye
  • hit the mark
  • the president's speech was a home run

WordNet

• one who rings a bell or bells, esp. one whose business it is to ring a church bell or chime, or a set of musical bells for public entertainment.

Webster 1913

• noun the sound of someone playing a set of bells
  
• noun persuasion of voters in a political campaign
  electioneering; canvassing.
  
• noun playing a set of bells that are (usually) hung in a tower
  carillon; carillon playing.
  

WordNet

• (Arch.), a roof shaped according to the general lines of a bell.

Webster 1913

• a rope by which a church or other bell is rung.

Webster 1913

• noun a seat that has a bell shape (on some 18th century chairs)
  balloon seat.
  

WordNet

• noun the shape of a bell
  campana; bell.
  

WordNet

• noun a bell-shaped tent
  

WordNet

• a circular conical-topped tent.

Webster 1913

• verb take a risk; perform a daring act
  
  • Who is going to bell the cat?

WordNet

• noun western North American frog with a taillike copulatory organ
  Ascaphus trui; tailed toad; ribbed toad; tailed frog.
  

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• noun a tower that supports or shelters a bell
  

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• a kind of bell shaped stench trap.

Webster 1913

• adjective satellite (of trousers) having legs that flare at the bottom
  bellbottom; bell-bottom.
  
  • bell-bottomed trousers

WordNet

• adjective satellite (of trousers) having legs that flare at the bottom
  bellbottom; bell-bottom.
  
  • bell-bottomed trousers

WordNet

• noun trousers with legs that flare; worn by sailors; absurdly wide hems were fashionable in the 1960s
  bellbottom trousers; bellbottom pants.
  

WordNet

Bell"-faced` adjective

Definitions

1. Having the striking surface convex; -- said of hammers.

Webster 1913

• noun a birdcall that resembles the tone of a bell
  

WordNet

Bell"-mouthed` adjective

Definitions

1. Expanding at the mouth; as, a bell-mouthed gun. Byron.

Webster 1913

• adjective satellite having a convex shape that resembles a bell
  

WordNet

Bell"-shaped` adjective

Definitions

1. Having the shape of a widemouthed bell; campanulate.

Webster 1913

• noun a symmetrical curve representing the normal distribution
  normal curve; Gaussian shape; Gaussian curve.
  

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• noun creative writing valued for esthetic content
  belles lettres.
  

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• noun creative writing valued for esthetic content
  belles lettres.
  

WordNet

Belles-let"tres noun plural

Etymology

Definitions

1. Polite or elegant literature; the humanities; -- used somewhat vaguely for literary works in which imagination and taste are predominant.

Webster 1913

• noun aromatic annual with a tall stems of small whitish flowers enclosed in a greatly enlarged saucer-shaped or bell-shaped calyx
  molucca balm; Molucella laevis.
  

WordNet

Bow"-bells` noun plural

Definitions

1. The bells of Bow Church in London; cockneydom.

   People born within the sound of Bow-bells are usually called cockneys. Murray's Handbook of London.

Webster 1913

• noun California herb with brownish-purple or greenish bell-shaped flowers
  Fritillaria parviflora; Fritillaria micrantha.
  

WordNet

• noun viscid herb of arid or desert habitats of southwestern United States having pendulous yellow flowers
  California yellow bells; whispering bells; Emmanthe penduliflora.
  

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• noun herb of Colombia to Peru having pale purple flowers
  Gloxinia perennis.
  
• noun European biennial widely cultivated for its blue or violet or white flowers
  Campanula medium; cup and saucer.
  

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• noun any of several plants of the genus Blandfordia having large orange or crimson flowers
  

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• noun a bell in a church tower (usually sounded to summon people to church)
  
  • church bells were ringing all over town

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• noun English novelist; one of three Bronte sisters (1818-1848)
  Bronte; Emily Jane Bronte; Emily Bronte.
  

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• noun a bell rung to announce a death
  death knell.
  

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• a bell that announces a death.

  The death bell thrice was heard to ring. Mickle.

Webster 1913

• noun a bell rung to announce that dinner has been served
  

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• noun diving apparatus for underwater work; has an open bottom and is supplied with compressed air
  

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• a hollow inverted vessel, sometimes bell-shaped, in which men may descend and work under water, respiration being sustained by the compressed air at the top, by fresh air pumped in through a tube from above.

Webster 1913

Dumb"-bell` noun

Definitions

1. A weight, consisting of two spheres or spheroids, connected by a short bar for a handle; used (often in pairs) for gymnastic exercise.

Webster 1913

• noun a bell activated by the magnetic effect of an electric current
  

WordNet

• noun tall leafy European biennial or perennial having spectacular clusters of large tubular pink-purple flowers; leaves yield drug digitalis and are poisonous to livestock
  Digitalis purpurea; fingerroot; fingerflower; common foxglove; finger-flower; finger-root.
  

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• noun a bell rung to give a fire alarm
  

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• a bell, horn, whistle or other contrivance that sounds an alarm, often automatically, near places of danger where visible signals would be hidden in thick weather.

Webster 1913

• a small bell rung by the hand; a table bell. Bacon.

Webster 1913

• noun common low European shrub with purple-red flowers
  fine-leaved heath; bell heather; Erica cinerea.
  

WordNet

• (Bot.), one of the pretty subglobose flowers of two European kinds of heather (Erica Tetralix, and E. cinerea).

Webster 1913

• (Bot.), a climbing plant related to the morning-glory (Convolvulus sepium).

Webster 1913

• noun African shrub having decumbent stems and slender yellow honey-scented flowers either solitary or in pairs
  Hermannia verticillata; Mahernia verticillata; honeybells.
  

WordNet

• noun the bell of Independence Hall; rung 8 July 1776 to announce the signing of the Declaration of Independence
  

WordNet

• . See under Bell.

Webster 1913

• a bell rung to give notice that buying and selling in a market may begin. Eng. Shak.

Webster 1913

• the sanctus bell. See Sanctus.

Webster 1913

• noun a phonetician and father of Alexander Graham Bell (1819-1905)
  Alexander Melville Bell; Bell.
  

WordNet

• noun any of various plants of the genus Uvularia having yellowish drooping bell-shaped flowers
  bellwort; wild oats.
  

WordNet

• a bell tolled at intervals of a minute, as to give notice of a death or a funeral.

Webster 1913

• noun herb of southwestern United States having dark purple bell-shaped flowers mottled with green
  black fritillary; Fritillaria biflora.
  
• noun herb of northwestern America having green-and-purple bell-shaped flowers
  Fritillaria affinis; Fritillaria lanceolata; Fritillaria mutica; rice-grain fritillary.
  

WordNet

• the bell rung to summon to a mote. Obs.

Webster 1913

• noun a doorbell to be used at night
  

WordNet

• noun plant of southeastern United States having solitary white funnel-shaped flowers flushed with pink and large glossy green leaves that turn bronze-red in fall
  Shortia galacifolia.
  

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• noun a percussion instrument consisting of a set of graduated metal bars mounted on a frame and played with small hammers
  glockenspiel.
  

WordNet

• a tolling of a bell to announce that a soul is passing, or has passed, from its body (formerly done to invoke prayers for the dying); also, a tolling during the passing of a funeral procession to the grave, or during funeral ceremonies.

Webster 1913

• noun perennial European bellflower with racemose white or blue flowers
  peach bell; Campanula persicifolia; peach bells.
  

WordNet

• noun perennial European bellflower with racemose white or blue flowers
  peach bell; Campanula persicifolia; peach bells.
  

WordNet

• . See Sanctus bell, under Sanctus.

Webster 1913

• . See Sanctus bell, under Sanctus.

Webster 1913

Sance"-bell", Sanct"te bell" noun (Also<

• Sance-bell
• Sanctte bell

)

Definitions

1. See Sanctus bell, under Sanctus.

Webster 1913

• a small bell usually suspended in a bell cot at the apex of the nave roof, over the chancel arch, in mediæval churches, but a hand bell is now often used; so called because rung at the singing of the sanctus, at the conclusion of the ordinary of the Mass, and again at the elevation of the host. Called also Mass bell, sacring bell, saints' bell, sance-bell, sancte bell.

Webster 1913

• noun a bell rung to announce beginning or ending of class
  

WordNet

• noun a bell hung round the neck of a sheep so that the sheep can be easily located
  

WordNet

• 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.
  bell.
  

WordNet

• noun a bell attached to the door of a small shop; warns the proprietor that a customer has entered the shop
  

WordNet

• noun any of various deciduous trees of the genus Halesia having white bell-shaped flowers
  

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• noun medium-sized tree of West Virginia to Florida and Texas
  Halesia tetraptera; silverbell tree; Halesia carolina; snowdrop tree; opossum wood.
  

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• (Bot.), an American shrub or small tree (Halesia tetraptera) with white bell-shaped flowers in clusters or racemes; the snowdrop tree.

Webster 1913

• noun a bell attached to a sleigh, or to the harness of a horse that is pulling a sleigh
  cascabel.
  

WordNet

• a small bell attached either to a horse when drawing a slegh, or to the sleigh itself; especially a globular bell with a loose ball which plays inside instead of a clapper.

Webster 1913

• the passing bell. Bp. Hall.

Webster 1913

• noun a malodorous California herb with bell-shaped flowers; a common weed in grainfields
  Fritillaria agrestis.
  

WordNet

• noun bushy deciduous shrub of the eastern United States with long racemes of pinkish flowers
  Leucothoe racemosa.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), a nectocalyx. See Illust. under Siphonophora.

Webster 1913

• noun electric bell that rings to signal a call
  

WordNet

• the famous bell of the Philadelphia State House, which rang when the Continental Congress declared the Independence of the United States, in 1776. It had been cast in 1753, and upon it were the words "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, to all the inhabitants thereof."

Webster 1913

• to win the prize at a race where the prize was a bell; hence, to be superior in something. Fuller.

Webster 1913

• to be the first or leader; in allusion to the bellwether or a flock, or the leading animal of a team or drove, when wearing a bell.

Webster 1913

• . See under Bell.

Webster 1913

• a solemn form of excommunication used in the Roman Catholic church, the bell being tolled, the book of offices for the purpose being used, and three candles being extinguished with certain ceremonies. Nares.

Webster 1913

• to be worsted in a contest. "In single fight he lost the bell." Fairfax.

Webster 1913

• to sound the chimes, reversing the common order; formerly done as a signal of alarm or danger. Sir W. Scott.

Webster 1913

• to move, give notice, or alarm.

Webster 1913

• noun English painter; sister of Virginia Woolf; prominent member of the Bloomsbury Group (1879-1961)
  Vanessa Stephen; Bell.
  

WordNet

• noun a bell used to sound an alarm
  tocsin.
  

WordNet

• (Naut.), a bell struck when the half-hour glass is run out, or at the end of each half hour. Craig.

Webster 1913

• noun viscid herb of arid or desert habitats of southwestern United States having pendulous yellow flowers
  California yellow bells; whispering bells; Emmanthe penduliflora.
  

WordNet

• noun perennial European bellflower with racemose white or blue flowers
  peach bell; Campanula persicifolia; peach bells.
  

WordNet

• noun a decorative arrangement of pieces of metal or glass or pottery that hang together loosely so the wind can cause them to tinkle
  wind chime.
  

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• noun viscid herb of arid or desert habitats of southwestern United States having pendulous yellow flowers
  California yellow bells; whispering bells; Emmanthe penduliflora.
  

WordNet