Library / English Dictionary

BELL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bell" is a kind of...):

acoustic device (a device for amplifying or transmitting sound)

signaling device (a device used to send signals)

Meronyms (parts of "bell"):

sound bow (contact (the part of a bell) against which the clapper strikes)

clapper; tongue (metal striker that hangs inside a bell and makes a sound by hitting the side)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bell"):

tocsin; warning bell (a bell used to sound an alarm)

cascabel; sleigh bell (a bell attached to a sleigh, or to the harness of a horse that is pulling a sleigh)

shop bell (a bell attached to the door of a small shop; warns the proprietor that a customer has entered the shop)

sheep bell (a bell hung round the neck of a sheep so that the sheep can be easily located)

school bell (a bell rung to announce beginning or ending of class)

fire bell (a bell rung to give a fire alarm)

electric bell (a bell activated by the magnetic effect of an electric current)

dinner bell (a bell rung to announce that dinner has been served)

death bell; death knell (a bell rung to announce a death)

cowbell (a bell hung around the neck of cow so that the cow can be easily located)

church bell (a bell in a church tower (usually sounded to summon people to church))

Instance hyponyms:

Liberty Bell (the bell of Independence Hall; rung 8 July 1776 to announce the signing of the Declaration of Independence)

Derivation:

bell (attach a bell to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The flared opening of a tubular device

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bell" is a kind of...):

opening (a vacant or unobstructed space that is man-made)

Holonyms ("bell" is a part of...):

blunderbuss (a short musket of wide bore with a flared muzzle)

funnel (a conically shaped utensil having a narrow tube at the small end; used to channel the flow of substances into a container with a small mouth)

wind; wind instrument (a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by an enclosed column of air that is moved by bellows or the human breath)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned bells that are struck with a hammer; used as an orchestral instrument

Synonyms:

bell; chime; gong

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bell" is a kind of...):

percussion instrument; percussive instrument (a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by one object striking another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bell"):

carillon (set of bells hung in a bell tower)

handbell (a bell that is held in the hand)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A push button at an outer door that gives a ringing or buzzing signal when pushed

Synonyms:

bell; buzzer; doorbell

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bell" is a kind of...):

button; push; push button (an electrical switch operated by pressing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bell"):

night bell (a doorbell to be used at night)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The sound of a bell being struck

Example:

she heard the distant toll of church bells

Synonyms:

bell; toll

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("bell" is a kind of...):

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bell"):

knell (the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death or a funeral or the end of something)

angelus; angelus bell (the sound of a bell rung in Roman Catholic churches to announce the time when the Angelus should be recited)

Derivation:

bell (attach a bell to)

Sense 6

Meaning:

United States inventor (born in Scotland) of the telephone (1847-1922)

Synonyms:

Alexander Bell; Alexander Graham Bell; Bell

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

artificer; discoverer; inventor (someone who is the first to think of or make something)

Sense 7

Meaning:

English painter; sister of Virginia Woolf; prominent member of the Bloomsbury Group (1879-1961)

Synonyms:

Bell; Vanessa Bell; Vanessa Stephen

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

painter (an artist who paints)

Holonyms ("Bell" is a member of...):

Bloomsbury Group (an inner circle of writers and artists and philosophers who lived in or around Bloomsbury early in the 20th century and were noted for their unconventional lifestyles)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A phonetician and father of Alexander Graham Bell (1819-1905)

Synonyms:

Alexander Melville Bell; Bell; Melville Bell

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

phonetician (a specialist in phonetics)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The shape of a bell

Synonyms:

bell; bell shape; campana

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("bell" is a kind of...):

curve; curved shape (the trace of a point whose direction of motion changes)

Sense 10

Meaning:

(nautical) each of the eight half-hour units of nautical time signaled by strokes of a ship's bell; eight bells signals 4:00, 8:00, or 12:00 o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.

Synonyms:

bell; ship's bell

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("bell" is a kind of...):

time unit; unit of time (a unit for measuring time periods)

Domain category:

navigation; sailing; seafaring (the work of a sailor)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attach a bell to

Example:

bell cows

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "bell" is one way to...):

attach (cause to be attached)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bell (a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck)

bell (the sound of a bell being struck)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Then I came to the conclusion that the bell was out of order.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is found on the upper part of the bell or cap of the enamel organ of the developing tooth and is composed of cuboidal cells.

(Outer Enamel Epithelium, NCI Thesaurus)

Bell's palsy is the most common cause of facial paralysis.

(Bell's Palsy, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

A blue nevus characterized by a multinodular cellular infiltrate with a dumb-bell architecture occupying the reticular dermis.

(Cellular Blue Nevus, NCI Thesaurus)

For example, nerve diseases like trigeminal neuralgia or Bell's palsysometimes cause facial pain, spasms and trouble with eye or facial movement.

(Facial Injuries and Disorders, NIH)

He mounted, as he spoke, a white mule which had been grazing by the wayside, all gay with fustian of gold and silver bells, and rode onward with Sir Nigel's party.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“We must be off for Crawley at once, nephew,” said he, ringing the bell.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This ringing of the plasma bell is what led to the key evidence showing Voyager had entered interstellar space.

(Sun sends more 'tsunami waves' to Voyager 1, NASA)

It will be as if you hear bells and a choir of angels singing.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

There was a bell beside the gate, and Dorothy pushed the button and heard a silvery tinkle sound within.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)