bell
- noun
- /bɛl/
- Specialized
Examples
-
If you hear a bell, it's a division bell.
-
We eat at six bells... no sooner, no later.
-
No one left on the third bell, so everyone then knew there weren't any groups of four.
-
You have noticed a ship's bell hanging at the west side of this courtyard.
Fiction book (1997) -
At 8:00 A.M., he rang all three bells in unison to start Mass.
Fiction book (1999) -
The sailors counted the time by the ship's bell, knowing that eight bells signified the end of their watch.
-
At midnight, the ship's bell rang eight times, indicating the shift change for the crew.
-
During the four-hour watch, the crew listened for the bell to mark each passing half hour.
Synonyms
A sound a ship makes every half hour to show the time
Idioms
- Informal
To try to undo something after it has happened and cannot be changed
Compounds
- Specialized
A curved line on a graph showing most results near the average and fewer at the ends
- Archaic
Trousers with legs that get wider from the knee down, often worn in the 1960s and 1970s
- Specialized
A glass cover shaped like a bell used to protect fragile things like clocks or small objects
- Specialized
A strong chamber with an open bottom filled with air that carries people or equipment underwater for work
- Specialized
A curve shaped like a bell that shows most values near the average
- Specialized
A large bell-shaped oven that heats steel strips to remove hardening and make them softer
- Specialized
A furnace that covers steel strips with a bell-shaped hood to make them softer
- Specialized
An arch with a rounded top that rests on stones sticking out from a wall like a bell
A small European shrub with thin needle-like leaves and bell-shaped purple or pink flowers
- UK
A tall plant with clusters of large pink-purple tube-like flowers and leaves poisonous to farm animals
- South African
A small African shrub with long hanging stems and yellow flowers that smell sweet
- Archaic
A small electric bell that rings to tell someone about an incoming phone call
A decorative thing of metal, glass or clay that hangs and makes a soft tinkling sound in wind
Surface Forms
Etymology
Bell was used on ships to mark time, so each set of hits became known as a 'bell' and tells part of the watch.