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bell

 - 19 dictionary results
Solid Brass Bells
The webs largest selection of bells. Engravable. Great prices.
www.brassbell.com

bell

1  [bel]
–noun
1. a hollow instrument of cast metal, typically cup-shaped with a flaring mouth, suspended from the vertex and rung by the strokes of a clapper, hammer, or the like.
2. the stroke or sound of such an instrument: We rose at the bell.
3. anything in the form of a bell.
4. the large end of a funnel, or the end of a pipe, tube, or any musical wind instrument, when its edge is turned out and enlarged.
5. Architecture. the underlying part of a foliated capital.
6. Nautical.
a. any of the half-hour units of nautical time rung on the bell of a ship.
b. each individual ring of the bell, counted with others to reckon the time: It is now four bells.
c. a signal on the telegraph of a large power vessel, made between the navigating officers and the engineer.
7. Zoology. umbrella (def. 2).
8. Botany. the bell-shaped corolla of a flower.
9. Metallurgy. a conical lid that seals the top of a blast furnace and lowers to admit a charge.
–verb (used with object)
10. to cause to swell or expand like a bell (often fol. by out): Belling out the tubes will permit a freer passage of air.
11. to put a bell on.
–verb (used without object)
12. to take or have the form of a bell.
13. Botany. to produce bells; be in bell (said of hops when the seed vessels are forming).
—Idioms
14. bell the cat. cat 1 (def. 15).
15. ring a bell, to evoke a memory, esp. a vague or partial recollection; remind one of something: His name rings a bell but I can't remember him.
16. ring the bell, to provide what is desired; be satisfactory or successful: This new book rings the bell with teenagers.
17. saved by the bell,
a. (of a boxer) saved from a knockout by the ringing of a gong signaling the end of a round.
b. (of any person) spared from anticipated trouble by some extraneous event.
18. with bells on, Informal. eagerly; ready to enjoy oneself: Just say when, and we'll be there with bells on.
Use bell in a Sentence
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME, OE belle; c. D bel; deriv. of bell 2

Related forms:
bell-less, adjective
Solid Brass Bells
The webs largest selection of bells. Engravable. Great prices.
www.brassbell.com

bell

2  [bel]
–verb (used without object), verb (used with object)
1. to bellow like a stag in rutting time.
2. to bay, as a hunting dog.
–noun
3. the cry of a rutting stag or hunting dog.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME bellen, OE bellan to roar; c. OHG bellan (G bellen to bark), MD bellen, belen, ON belja; akin to Lith bal̃sas voice, Skt bhaṣ- bark, bhāṣ- speak. See bellow, belch

Bell

  [bel]
–noun
1. Ac⋅ton  [ak-tuhn] , pen name of Anne Brontë.
2. Alexander Graham, 1847–1922, U.S. scientist, born in Scotland: inventor of the telephone.
3. (Arthur) Clive (Howard), 1881–1964, English critic of literature and art.
4. Cur⋅rer  [kur-er] , pen name of Charlotte Brontë.
5. Ellis, pen name of Emily Brontë.
6. James Thomas (“Cool Papa”), 1903–91, U.S. baseball player, a Negro Leagues outfielder noted for his speed.
7. John, 1797–1869, U.S. political leader: Speaker of the House 1834–35.
8. a city in SW California, near Los Angeles. 25,450.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To bell
bell 1   (běl)   
n.  

  1. A hollow metal musical instrument, usually cup-shaped with a flared opening, that emits a metallic tone when struck.

  2. Something resembling such an instrument in shape or sound, as:

    1. The round, flared opening of a wind instrument at the opposite end from the mouthpiece.

    2. bells A percussion instrument consisting of metal tubes or bars that emit tones when struck.

    3. A hollow, usually inverted vessel, such as one used for diving deep below the surface of a body of water.

    4. The corolla of a flower: "In a cowslip's bell I lie" (Shakespeare).

    5. A stroke on a hollow metal instrument to mark the hour.

    6. The time indicated by the striking of this instrument, divided into half hours.

  3. Nautical

    1. A stroke on a hollow metal instrument to mark the hour.

    2. The time indicated by the striking of this instrument, divided into half hours.

v.   belled, bell·ing, bells

v.   tr.

  1. To put a bell on.

  2. To cause to flare like a bell.

v.   intr.
To assume the form of a bell; flare.

[Middle English belle, from Old English.]
bell 2   (běl)   
n.  The bellowing or baying cry of certain animals, such as a deer in rut or a beagle on the hunt.
intr.v.   belled, bell·ing, bells
To utter long, deep, resonant sounds; bellow.

[From Middle English bellen, to bellow, from Old English bellan.]
Bell   (běl)   
A city of southern California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Population: 37,300.
Bell, Alexander Graham 1847-1922.  


(click for larger image in new window)
Scottish-born American inventor of the telephone. The first demonstration of electrical transmission of speech by his apparatus took place in 1876. Bell also invented the audiometer, an early hearing aid, and improved the phonograph.
Bell,   (Arthur)
British critic who proposed his aesthetic theory of significant form in Art (1914).
Bell, James Thomas Known as "Cool Papa." 1903-1991.  
American baseball player who spent his entire career in the Negro Leagues (1922-1950). Considered by many to be the fastest base runner ever, he reportedly stole 175 bases in 200 games in 1933.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

bell 
O.E. belle, common North Sea Gmc. (cf. M.Du. belle, M.L.G. belle) but not found elsewhere in Gmc. (except as a borrowing), from PIE base *bhel- "to sound, roar." Bellhop is a 1910 shortening of bellhopper (1900), from the notion of hopping to action at the ring of the bell. Bell-boy was originally (1851) a ship's bell-ringer, later (1861) a hotel page. Bell-wether (c.1440; see wether) was "the leading sheep of a flock, on whose neck a bell is hung;" used earlier in the fig. sense of "chief, leader" (c.1430). Bell-bottomed trousers first recorded 1891. Bell, book, and candle is a reference to a form of excommunication. To ring a bell "awaken a memory," 1934, is perhaps a reference to Pavlovian experiments.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

Bell

The ring that marks the open and close of each trading day on many organized financial exchanges, most notably the NYSE.

Investopedia Commentary

The bell usually starts ringing when there are five to ten seconds left in the trading day.

Related Links

The Tale Of Two Exchanges: NYSE And Nasdaq
Stock Basics Tutorial
Markets Demystified
Getting to Know Stock Exchanges

See also: Close, Floor Trader, Member Firm, NYSE, Open

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
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bell

The device that sounds to mark the open and close of each trading day on an organized securities exchange.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Bell (běl), Sir Charles. 1774-1842.

British anatomist and surgeon who published detailed anatomies of the nervous system and the brain. He was the first to distinguish between sensory and motor nerves. Bell's Law and Bell's palsy are named for him.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Science Dictionary
Bell   (běl)  Pronunciation Key 
Scottish-born American scientist and inventor whose lifelong interest in the education of deaf people led him to conceive the idea of transmitting speech by electric waves. In 1876 his experiments with a telegraph resulted in his invention of the telephone. He later produced the first successful sound recorder, an early hearing aid, and many other devices.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

BELL
An early system on the IBM 650 and Datatron 200 series.
Versions: BELL L2, BELL L3.
[Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)].
[Is Datatron version the same?]
(1994-12-06)

Bell company
Bell Telephone or Bell Laboratories.
(1997-04-07)

bell character
ASCII 7, ASCII mnemonic "BEL", the character code which prodces a standard audibile warning from the computer or terminal. In the teletype days it really was a bell, since the advent of the VDU it is more likely to be a sound sample (e.g. the sound of a bell) played through a loudspeaker.
Also called "G-bell", because it is typed as Control-G.
The term "beep" is preferred among some microcomputer hobbyists.
Compare feep, visible bell.
(1997-04-08)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Bible Dictionary

Bell

The bells first mentioned in Scripture are the small golden bells attached to the hem of the high priest's ephod (Ex. 28:33, 34, 35). The "bells of the horses" mentioned by Zechariah (14:20) were attached to the bridles or belts round the necks of horses trained for war, so as to accustom them to noise and tumult.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

bell

In addition to the idiom beginning with bell, also see clear as a bell; ring a bell; saved by the bell; sound as a bell; with bells on.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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