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with bells on

 - 7 dictionary results

bell

1  [bel]
Use with bells on in a Sentence
–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.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME, OE belle; c. D bel; deriv. of bell 2

Related forms:
bell-less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
with bells on

  1. mod.
    ready to go; eager. : I promise to be there at five in the morning with bells on.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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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 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.
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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.
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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.
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Idioms & Phrases

with bells on

Ready to celebrate, eagerly, as in Of course I'll come; I'll be there with bells on. This metaphoric expression alludes to decorating oneself or one's clothing with little bells for some special performance or occasion. A well-known nursery rhyme has: "See a fine lady upon a white horse, Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, And she shall have music wherever she goes" (in Gammer Gurton's Garland, 1784).

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