[bel] 
| 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.
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| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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). |
| 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,
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| 18. | with bells on, Informal. eagerly; ready to enjoy oneself: Just say when, and we'll be there with bells on. |
bell
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.
| 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. |
