Bell
noun
A device that makes a ringing sound when hit, used mainly for signaling or attracting attention.
I rang the door bell.
Often appears as...
- ringing a bell
- sound of the bell
noun
The end part of some objects, which have a shape like a bell.
The bell of the trumpet.
Often appears as...
- bell of the trumpet
- bell of the horn
noun
A type of religious ceremony in certain Christian Churches.
The church bell rang every hour.
Often appears as...
- church bell
- bell ringer
Usage tips
Religious
verb
To put a bell on an animal.
The cat has been belled.
Often appears as...
- bell the cat
- belling dogs
noun
In boxing, a sound that is made to signal the start or the end of a round.
He was saved by the bell.
Often appears as...
- saved by the bell
- bell rings
noun
A bell-shaped part of a machine or device.
The bell of my old gramophone.
Often appears as...
- gramophone bell
- bell housing
Usage tips
Technical
noun
A plant or flower shaped like a bell.
The garden was filled with bluebells.
Often appears as...
- bluebell
- bell flower
Usage tips
Botanical
verb
To develop a bell-shaped outgrowth or become wider at the bottom.
The pants bell out at the ankles.
Often appears as...
- bell out
- bell-bottoms
Usage tips
Informal
Fashion
noun
A device that makes a ringing sound when hit, used mainly for signaling or attracting attention.
I rang the door bell.
Often appears as...
- ringing a bell
- sound of the bell
noun
The end part of some objects, which have a shape like a bell.
The bell of the trumpet.
Often appears as...
- bell of the trumpet
- bell of the horn
noun
A type of religious ceremony in certain Christian Churches.
The church bell rang every hour.
Often appears as...
- church bell
- bell ringer
Usage tips
Religious
verb
To put a bell on an animal.
The cat has been belled.
Often appears as...
- bell the cat
- belling dogs
noun
In boxing, a sound that is made to signal the start or the end of a round.
He was saved by the bell.
Often appears as...
- saved by the bell
- bell rings
noun
A bell-shaped part of a machine or device.
The bell of my old gramophone.
Often appears as...
- gramophone bell
- bell housing
Usage tips
Technical
noun
A plant or flower shaped like a bell.
The garden was filled with bluebells.
Often appears as...
- bluebell
- bell flower
Usage tips
Botanical
verb
To develop a bell-shaped outgrowth or become wider at the bottom.
The pants bell out at the ankles.
Often appears as...
- bell out
- bell-bottoms
Usage tips
Informal
Fashion
Definition 1 of 8
Pro Tip 1/3Attention Signal
The ringing of a bell often means something requires immediate attention or action.
When the school bell rings, it's time for class.
Pro Tip 2/3Common Idiom
'Ringing a bell' can mean something sounds familiar or you're vaguely remembering it.
That song doesn't ring a bell. Have I heard it before?
Pro Tip 3/3Historical Use
Bells have historically been used for timekeeping or announcing events in a community.
The town crier rang the bell before making his announcement.
Pro Tip 1/3Attention Signal
The ringing of a bell often means something requires immediate attention or action.
When the school bell rings, it's time for class.
Pro Tip 2/3Common Idiom
'Ringing a bell' can mean something sounds familiar or you're vaguely remembering it.
That song doesn't ring a bell. Have I heard it before?
Pro Tip 3/3Historical Use
Bells have historically been used for timekeeping or announcing events in a community.
The town crier rang the bell before making his announcement.
Pro Tip 1/3Attention Signal
The ringing of a bell often means something requires immediate attention or action.
When the school bell rings, it's time for class.
Pro Tip 2/3Common Idiom
'Ringing a bell' can mean something sounds familiar or you're vaguely remembering it.
That song doesn't ring a bell. Have I heard it before?
Pro Tip 3/3Historical Use
Bells have historically been used for timekeeping or announcing events in a community.
The town crier rang the bell before making his announcement.
Never forget "Bell"
Humans forget easily. That's why you should download WordUp: Smart reminders, word games, AI practice, and much more!
Video examples
Blueprint for a quiet...
thousands of teachers have been reaching out to us class ringg for change so in the year ahead we are going to be partnering with schools to develop tools for parents and teachers to harness the talents of quiet children one final story there once was a boy who was so quiet and shy he used to run home from school as soon as the bell rang to avoid socializing with his
Video examples
Choice, happiness and...
and he plots it on a curve, and all of a sudden he realizes it's not a nice bell curve. In fact, the data doesn't make any sense. It's a mess. It's all over the place. Now, most people in that business, in the world of testing food and such, are not dismayed when the data comes back a mess. They think, "Well, you know,
Video examples
How to raise a Black son...
These are the sorts of messages I've been inundated with my entire Always keep your hands where they can see them, don't move too quickly, take off your hood when the sun goes down. My parents raised me and my siblings in an armor of advice, an ocean of alarm bells so someone wouldn't steal the breath from our lungs,
Video examples
What is “normal” and...
And yet, a lot of the world is constructed around a foundation of normalcy. So what does normal actually mean— and should we be relying on it so much? In statistics, a normal distribution describes a set of values that fall along a bell curve. The average, or mean, of all the values is at the very center,
Video examples
How does a jellyfish...
for protection and prey capture. Even baby jellyfish, the size of a pencil eraser, have the ability to sting. Larval jellyfish, ephyrae, look like tiny flowers pulsating in the sea. As they grow, they become umbrella-shaped with a bell at the top and descending tentacles around the margin.
Video examples
Hunting With Falcons:...
to me so I raised this bird one of my friends brought home a falconry book I tried to read it but I really didn't understand it because it was really in-depth but I would just look at the pictures try to put as much as I could together I knew that falconers put bells on their
Video examples
The habits of happiness...
of a meditator who meditated on compassion. It's something that is totally out of the bell curve. So, I've no time to go into all the different scientific results. Hopefully, they will come. But they found that -- this is after three and a half hours in an fMRI,
Video examples
Braving a Thunderstorm...
soon the main wall is going to start coming in for a free feed this could be the best place in the whole world to see them certainly up close all we have to do now is wait and I hope I think that's the dinner bell thankfully the wolves are listening
Video examples
Why doesn’t the Leaning...
workers compensated for the tower’s minor tilt by making the next few floors taller on the southern side. But the weight of the extra masonry made that side sink even deeper. By the time they completed the seventh floor and bell chamber,
Video examples
How brass instruments...
produce the different notes within it. And those notes finally emerge through the flared bell opening at the end. What started as a deep breath and a vibrating buzz on the lips has now been transformed into a bold and brassy tune.
Video examples
Blueprint for a quiet...
thousands of teachers have been reaching out to us class ringg for change so in the year ahead we are going to be partnering with schools to develop tools for parents and teachers to harness the talents of quiet children one final story there once was a boy who was so quiet and shy he used to run home from school as soon as the bell rang to avoid socializing with his
Video examples
Choice, happiness and...
and he plots it on a curve, and all of a sudden he realizes it's not a nice bell curve. In fact, the data doesn't make any sense. It's a mess. It's all over the place. Now, most people in that business, in the world of testing food and such, are not dismayed when the data comes back a mess. They think, "Well, you know,
Video examples
How to raise a Black son...
These are the sorts of messages I've been inundated with my entire Always keep your hands where they can see them, don't move too quickly, take off your hood when the sun goes down. My parents raised me and my siblings in an armor of advice, an ocean of alarm bells so someone wouldn't steal the breath from our lungs,
Video examples
What is “normal” and...
And yet, a lot of the world is constructed around a foundation of normalcy. So what does normal actually mean— and should we be relying on it so much? In statistics, a normal distribution describes a set of values that fall along a bell curve. The average, or mean, of all the values is at the very center,
Video examples
How does a jellyfish...
for protection and prey capture. Even baby jellyfish, the size of a pencil eraser, have the ability to sting. Larval jellyfish, ephyrae, look like tiny flowers pulsating in the sea. As they grow, they become umbrella-shaped with a bell at the top and descending tentacles around the margin.
Video examples
Hunting With Falcons:...
to me so I raised this bird one of my friends brought home a falconry book I tried to read it but I really didn't understand it because it was really in-depth but I would just look at the pictures try to put as much as I could together I knew that falconers put bells on their
Video examples
The habits of happiness...
of a meditator who meditated on compassion. It's something that is totally out of the bell curve. So, I've no time to go into all the different scientific results. Hopefully, they will come. But they found that -- this is after three and a half hours in an fMRI,
Video examples
Braving a Thunderstorm...
soon the main wall is going to start coming in for a free feed this could be the best place in the whole world to see them certainly up close all we have to do now is wait and I hope I think that's the dinner bell thankfully the wolves are listening
Video examples
Why doesn’t the Leaning...
workers compensated for the tower’s minor tilt by making the next few floors taller on the southern side. But the weight of the extra masonry made that side sink even deeper. By the time they completed the seventh floor and bell chamber,
Video examples
How brass instruments...
produce the different notes within it. And those notes finally emerge through the flared bell opening at the end. What started as a deep breath and a vibrating buzz on the lips has now been transformed into a bold and brassy tune.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Andrew Eldritch
English Musician
In the beginning, everybody that gets to work with me, thinks I'm nice. But three weeks later, they hear a bell ringing. Then they realise I meant everything I said during that first week. It's not my fault people are not taking me serious from the first moment.
Quote examples
Martin Cooper
American Scientist
Bell Labs was a fantastic research organization but having them create and market new products for the world was terrible. They were not good marketers and yet it was AT&T engineers who were deciding what the products of the future were.
Quote examples
Gerry Cooney
American Athlete
You take that walk from the dressing room to the ring and that's when the real man comes out. Then you climb up those four stairs and into the ring. Then finally, you can't wait for the bell to ring.
Quote examples
Henry Rollins
American Musician
Let's pretend my career in music is a bell. Whether you like my music or not is up to you. But you've got to admit I rang that bell pretty hard and pretty often.
Quote examples
Lizzie Andrew Borden
American Celebrity
I think he came to the front door and rang the bell, and Maggie let him in, and he said he had forgotten his key; so I think she must have been down stairs.
Quote examples
Carlos Condit
American Mixed Martial Artist
It's not what you say or how you act. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, it's what you do when the bell rings that really matters.
Quote examples
Kamala Harris
American Vice President
The bells will ring and the marriages will begin. And it's a great day in our state for equal protection under the law for all people.
Quote examples
Michael Moore
American Activist
Somehow, I don't think Jesus came to Earth to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
Quote examples
Henry Mancini
American Composer
I just write when the bell rings. I don't have time to wait for inspiration.
Quote examples
Ken Cuccinelli
American Politician
There's some bells you can't unring.
Quote examples
Andrew Eldritch
English Musician
In the beginning, everybody that gets to work with me, thinks I'm nice. But three weeks later, they hear a bell ringing. Then they realise I meant everything I said during that first week. It's not my fault people are not taking me serious from the first moment.
Quote examples
Martin Cooper
American Scientist
Bell Labs was a fantastic research organization but having them create and market new products for the world was terrible. They were not good marketers and yet it was AT&T engineers who were deciding what the products of the future were.
Quote examples
Gerry Cooney
American Athlete
You take that walk from the dressing room to the ring and that's when the real man comes out. Then you climb up those four stairs and into the ring. Then finally, you can't wait for the bell to ring.
Quote examples
Henry Rollins
American Musician
Let's pretend my career in music is a bell. Whether you like my music or not is up to you. But you've got to admit I rang that bell pretty hard and pretty often.
Quote examples
Lizzie Andrew Borden
American Celebrity
I think he came to the front door and rang the bell, and Maggie let him in, and he said he had forgotten his key; so I think she must have been down stairs.
Quote examples
Carlos Condit
American Mixed Martial Artist
It's not what you say or how you act. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, it's what you do when the bell rings that really matters.
Quote examples
Kamala Harris
American Vice President
The bells will ring and the marriages will begin. And it's a great day in our state for equal protection under the law for all people.
Quote examples
Michael Moore
American Activist
Somehow, I don't think Jesus came to Earth to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
Quote examples
Henry Mancini
American Composer
I just write when the bell rings. I don't have time to wait for inspiration.
Quote examples
Ken Cuccinelli
American Politician
There's some bells you can't unring.
Example 1 of 10
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension