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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

chime

/tʃaɪm/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does chime mean?

noun

  1. A musical instrument producing a sound when struck, similar to a bell (e.g. a tubular metal bar) or actually a bell. Often used in the plural to refer to the set: the chimes.
  2. An individual ringing component of such a set.
  3. A small bell or other ringing or tone-making device as a component of some other device.
More meanings (8)

noun

  1. The sound of such an instrument or device.
  2. A small hammer or other device used to strike a bell.
  3. Alternative form of chine (“edge of a cask; part of a ship; etc.”).

verb

  1. To make the sound of a chime.
  2. To cause to sound in harmony; to play a tune, as upon a set of bells; to move or strike in harmony.
  3. To utter harmoniously; to recite rhythmically.
  4. To agree; to correspond.
  5. To make a rude correspondence of sounds; to jingle, as in rhyming.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/tʃaɪm/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

If you symbolize the hermit thrush by the flute, you must call the wood thrush a chime of little tinkling bells.
Stewart Edward WhiteThe ForestProject Gutenberg ebook #9376
It is the music in our conscience, the dance in our spirit, to which Puritan litanies, moral sermons, and goody-goodness won't chime.
Friedrich Wilhelm NietzscheBeyond Good and EvilTranslated by Helen ZimmernProject Gutenberg ebook #4363
More book examples (3)
“You see,” said Billy Smallbury, with testimonial emphasis, “the man’s will was to do right, sure enough, but his heart didn’t chime in.”
Thomas HardyFar from the Madding CrowdProject Gutenberg ebook #27
It struck twelve—I waited till the time-piece had concluded its silver chime, and the clock its hoarse, vibrating stroke, and then I proceeded.
Charlotte BrontëJane Eyre: An AutobiographyProject Gutenberg ebook #1260
But the echoes of the chime die away—they have endured but an instant—and a light, half-subdued laughter floats after them as they depart.
Edgar Allan PoeThe Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2Project Gutenberg ebook #2148