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Glite Dictionary
Bill Haley

Bill Haley

1 3.9
An American singer and musician who helped make rock and roll popular
  • proper noun
  • /bɪl ˈheɪli/
: Bill Haley
  • The band performed a cover of Bill Haley's signature song, 'Rock Around the Clock.'

Examples

  • Bill Haley was a trailblazer of rock and roll in the 1950s.

  • Many historians credit Bill Haley with helping to usher in the modern era of popular music.

  • Many consider Bill Haley a pioneer of rock and roll.

  • Did you know Bill Haley was born in 1925?

  • Bill Haley was one of the first artists to gain fame in the rock and roll genre.

  • Many people recognize Bill Haley as a key figure in the history of American music.

  • Bill Haley achieved lasting popularity with his timeless hit, 'Rock Around the Clock.'

Surface Forms

Bill Haley main

Morphology

Bill + Haley

This is a personal name; knowing the constituents 'Bill' and 'Haley' (which are proper-name forms, not lexical descriptions) does not allow a learner to infer that this refers to an American singer and rock-and-roll pioneer. Proper names are arbitrary referents and their referential/biographical meaning is not compositionally derivable, so a B1 learner would not be able to derive the MWE's meaning from its parts.

Etymology

Bill Haley was an American singer who helped make rock and roll popular in the 1950s with the big hit 'Rock Around the Clock'. Because that song got many young people dancing and listening to this new sound, his name now brings to mind early rock and roll and its lively energy.