bell (1) definition - Dictionary

MSN homeMailMy MSN

encartagreeting cards

encarta®

Dictionary

Thesaurus

Translations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Also available:

World English Dictionary
Dictionnaire Français

bell (1)

bell [ bel ]

noun (plural bells)

Definition:

1. object with ringing sound: a hollow open-ended metal instrument with a rounded top that produces a ringing sound when struck. Bells are traditionally used as summonses and signals.

2. electrical device producing sound: a device activated by electricity that produces a ringing or buzzing signal

3. something bell-shaped: something with the curved and open-ended shape of a bell, especially a flower

4. music flared end of wind instrument: the flared end of a wind instrument, from which the sound emerges

5. nautical duration of ship's watch: the time during a watch on a ship, indicated by rings on a bell, one ring for each half hour that has passed

plural noun bells

Definition:

music percussion instrument: a percussion instrument consisting of metal tubes or bars hung from a frame that give out a ringing sound when struck

transitive and intransitive verb (past and past participle belled, present participle bell·ing, 3rd person present singular bells)

Definition:

become or make wider: to open out, or open something out, into a curved or flared shape similar to that of a bell

[ Old English belle< Germanic]

ring a bell to evoke a vague memory of something or somebody (informal)

Her name doesn't ring a bell.

That name doesn't ring a bell with me.

Cultural Note


	For Whom the Bell Tolls, a novel (1940) by Ernest Hemingway. Widely viewed as Hemingway's most ambitious work, it is set during the Spanish Civil War and tells the story of Robert Jordan, a U.S. volunteer fighting for the Republicans, who falls in love with a fellow volunteer named Maria. It was made into a movie by Sam Woods in 1943.