death bell
1
8.0
- noun
- /dɛθ bɛl/
:
campana de la muerte
- The church death bell tolled solemnly throughout the village after the news of the tragedy.
Examples
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Every evening, the death bell rings at six.
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The death bell tolled softly during the funeral.
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Hearing the death bell at midnight sent a chill through everyone in the parish.
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In olden times, the sound of the death bell would summon the community to mourn together.
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The mournful sound of the death bell echoed through the village, signaling the passing of a beloved resident.
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During the funeral service, the death bell tolled softly as family and friends gathered to pay their respects.
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In the quiet church, the death bell rang, informing the community of the loss of their long-time pastor.
Synonyms
12
9.9
A slow, sad bell sound that announces a death, funeral, or the end of something
A bell rung to announce someone's death
A horn call used to announce a death or the end of a hunt
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derivable from combining 'death' (end of life) and 'bell' (a ringing object): it denotes a bell rung to announce or signal a death. This simple noun+noun compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows straightforward descriptive naming, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Death bell The name death bell comes from a simple picture: a bell rung when there was a death. Hearing that bell let people know someone had died and called them to mourn, so today death bell means a bell used to 'announce a death'.