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bell

bell

5 5.6
The flared open end of a tube like a trumpet or saxophone
  • noun
  • /bɛl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : campana
  • Custom-built deposition chambers with bell jars, or cubic chambers, are built according to specifications with thermal, e-beam, sputtering, or ion-assisted devices.
  • bell nozzle

Examples

  • The bell, a long wind chime of white doves lined one below the other, tinkles behind him.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • I quietly go up into the tower to clean the bell while Father Lawrence goes on with his work.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Then he went to sit at the base of the bell tower facing the church.

    Blog text (2)
  • The main form of my bell is done and it is wired and it mostly works.

  • Before the starting bell, he put his trumpet to his lips, ready to play.

  • This is a Chinese cloisonnė bell.

  • On the other side of the sphere was a narrow straight channel that ended in the flared bell of a rocket nozzle.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • The scientist used a bell jar to create a vacuum for his experiment.

  • The brass bell of the instrument produced a clear and melodious tone.

  • He carefully placed the glass bell over the specimen to protect it from dust.

Idioms

to ring a bell
  • Informal
57 3.5

To seem familiar and make you remember something

1 5.6

To avoid trouble at the last moment because something interrupts

1 9.9

To try to undo something after it has happened and cannot be changed

In very good working condition and reliable

9.9

Win first place in a competition

to bell the cat
  • Informal
9.9

To take on a difficult or risky task that others refuse to do

5.4

Make someone think there may be a problem

To warn people about a possible danger or serious problem

Compounds

21 1.6

A large sweet vegetable shaped like a bell and eaten raw or cooked

9 1.1

A bell in a church tower that rings to call people to services or mark the time

8 3.3

A tall structure, often part of a church or public building, that holds bells

7 2.2

A bell that rings to warn people of danger or an emergency

bell curve
  • Specialized
7 4.6

A curved line on a graph showing most results near the average and fewer at the ends

7 3.4

A large old bell in Philadelphia that stands for freedom in the United States

7 2.7

A small metal object that jingles when moved, often on a horse harness or sleigh

5 1.0

A bell in a school that tells students the start or end of class

dinner bell
  • Archaic
4 1.1

A bell that rings to tell people that dinner is ready

bell-bottoms
  • Archaic
3 5.5

Trousers with legs that get wider from the knee down, often worn in the 1960s and 1970s

3 4.3

A person who rings bells in a church or musical group

2 2.0

A bell that rings to warn people about a fire

bell-bottom
  • Archaic
2 3.9

Trousers with legs that become wider below the knee

bell jar
  • Specialized
1 6.9

A glass cover shaped like a bell used to protect fragile things like clocks or small objects

diving bell
  • Specialized
1 6.3

A strong chamber with an open bottom filled with air that carries people or equipment underwater for work

1 6.2

Hotel employee who supervises bellboys and helps guests with their luggage

1 3.3

A sound made by bells during a ceremony or musical performance

bell-shaped curve
  • Specialized
1 4.2

A curve shaped like a bell that shows most values near the average

bell buoy
  • Specialized
1 7.0

A floating marker with a bell that rings when it moves to warn boats

bell ringer
  • Informal
1 7.0

A very successful result that does exactly what it should

1 8.0

A bell that a church or community rings to tell people someone has died

1 2.7

A bell that rings to warn people of danger

1 3.5

A sign that tells people about a possible problem

A clear, musical bird sound like a small bell

bell-like call
  • Texting
3.7

A short bell sound on a phone or app that signals a message

8.2

A large bell-shaped oven that heats steel strips to remove hardening and make them softer

bell-type furnace
  • Specialized
9.8

A furnace that covers steel strips with a bell-shaped hood to make them softer

9.9

A yellow tropical fruit with sweet juicy flesh and a strong smell

bell arch
  • Specialized
9.1

An arch with a rounded top that rests on stones sticking out from a wall like a bell

bell book
  • Specialized
9.9

A ship record for main engine orders written by the engineer

9.9

A small structure on a roof that holds one or more bells

9.9

A small shelter that holds a bell on the roof or wall of a church

bell cow
  • Jargon
9.9

A person or thing that leads a group and shows the best example

bell deck
  • Specialized
9.6

A floor under the bells in a tower that supports them

bell founder
  • Specialized
9.9

A person who makes bells by pouring hot liquid metal into a mold

bell gable
  • Specialized
9.9

A small wall at the end of a roof with openings that hold bells

bell foundry
  • Specialized
8.1

A workshop where people make bells by pouring hot metal into molds

A bell-shaped glass cover used to protect or display objects and to hold gases

A small European shrub with thin needle-like leaves and bell-shaped purple or pink flowers

bell magpie
  • Australian
9.9

A blue-black bird that eats fruit and makes a bell-like call

A mushroom with a bell-shaped cap attached only at the top

bell metal
  • Specialized
8.5

A hard metal made from copper and tin that is used to make bells

4.6

A button on a door or wall you press to ring a bell at an entrance

Playing a set of bells usually hung in a tower

bell seat
  • Archaic
9.9

A seat shaped like a bell on some chairs from the 1700s

A rounded form that is wider at the bottom and narrower at the top like a bell

4.7

A tent with a round floor and a tall pole in the middle

bell toad
  • Specialized
9.7

A frog in western North America that uses a tail-like organ to mate

A garden plant with pretty bell-shaped flowers grown for decoration

A bell that rings when electricity makes a magnet move

A bell sound in Catholic churches that calls people to say the Angelus prayer

9.9

A tall plant with clusters of large pink-purple tube-like flowers and leaves poisonous to farm animals

A low shrub with purple bell-shaped flowers that grows on open wild land

honey bell
  • South African
9.9

A small African shrub with long hanging stems and yellow flowers that smell sweet

A button by a door used at night to call someone

A garden plant with white or blue bell-shaped flowers that appears in early summer

telephone bell
  • Archaic
2.1

A small electric bell that rings to tell someone about an incoming phone call

A small bell that hangs on a sheep's neck to help find it by sound

2.0

A small bell on a shop door that rings when a customer enters or leaves

ship's bell
  • Specialized
8.8

A sound a ship makes every half hour to show the time

8.3

A North American tree with white bell-shaped flowers

A medium-sized tree that loses its leaves and has white bell-shaped flowers

9.9

A smelly weed with bell-shaped flowers that grows in fields of grain

9.9

A plant with small blue or white bell-shaped flowers that lives for many years

3.4

A decorative thing of metal, glass or clay that hangs and makes a soft tinkling sound in wind

How Flared

funnel
14 2.7
horn
31 1.4
bell
  • Specialized
5 5.6
nozzle
30 4.1
tube
680 2.0

Surface Forms

bell singular
bells plural

Etymology

Bell is used for the flared end of a tube because that opening looks like a small bell, so parts like a trumpet's 'bell' are named after the object's shape.