HOW TO PRONOUNCE
bell
/bɛl/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does bell mean?
noun
- A percussive instrument made of metal or other hard material, typically but not always in the shape of an inverted cup with a flared rim, which resonates when struck.
- An instrument that emits a ringing sound, situated on a bicycle's handlebar and used by the cyclist to warn of their presence.
- The sounding of a bell as a signal.
More meanings (35)
noun
- (informal) A telephone call.
- A signal at a school that tells the students when a class is starting or ending.
- The flared end of a brass or woodwind instrument.
- Any of a series of strokes on a bell (or similar), struck every half hour to indicate the time (within a four hour watch)
- The flared end of a pipe, designed to mate with a narrow spigot.
- The bell character.
- Anything shaped like a bell, such as the cup or corolla of a flower.
- The part of the capital of a column included between the abacus and neck molding; also used for the naked core of nearly cylindrical shape, assumed to exist within the leafage of a capital.
- The rounded upper part of a jellyfish.
- The bellow or bay of certain animals, such as a hound on the hunt or a stag in rut.
- a telephone utility; a Baby Bell.
- (archaic) A bubble.
- (slang, vulgar) Clipping of bell-end (“stupid or contemptible person”).
verb
- To attach a bell to.
- To shape so that it flares out like a bell.
- (slang) To telephone.
- To develop bells or corollas; to take the form of a bell; to blossom.
- To ring a bell.
- To bellow or roar.
- To utter in a loud manner; to thunder forth.
proper noun
- A surname of Scottish and northern English origin for a bell ringer, bellmaker, or from someone who lived "at the Bell (inn)."
- The Bell telephone company (after Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone.)
- A male given name transferred from the surname, of occasional usage.
- A female given name, variant of Belle; mostly used as a middle name in the 19th century.
- A city in Los Angeles County, California.
- A town in Gilchrist County, Florida.
- An unincorporated community in Logan County, Illinois.
- A census-designated place in Adair County, Oklahoma.
- A town in Bayfield County, Wisconsin.
- Three townships in Pennsylvania.
- A village in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
- A village in the City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia.
- A rural town in Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia.
- A municipality of Mayen-Koblenz district, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
- A municipality of Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis district, Rhineland-Palatinate.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/bɛl/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Mrs. Darling screamed, and, as if in answer to a bell, the door opened, and Nana entered, returned from her evening out.
“Alice Bell is only sixteen and she is wearing hers up, but I think that’s ridiculous. I shall wait until I’m seventeen.”
More book examples (3)
By this time he was far down Meadow Lane, and the bell for school to “take up” tinkled faintly upon his ear.
Now, sir, the sound that tells what hour it is Are clamorous groans which strike upon my heart, Which is the bell.
He swaggered up the path as if the place belonged to him, and we heard his loud, confident peal at the bell.