bell jar

American  

noun

1. a bell-shaped glass jar or cover for protecting delicate instruments, bric-a-brac, or the like, or for containing gases or a vacuum in chemical experiments.

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bell jar British  

noun

1. a bell-shaped glass cover used to protect flower arrangements or fragile ornaments or to cover apparatus in experiments, esp to prevent gases escaping

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Etymology

Origin of bell jar

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bell jar

They used precision-milled steel to construct the capsule and designed a special bell jar to surround it in a layer of dry air, protecting the inside from the moist soil of the American northeast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

When I'm in the bell jar, as I majorly have been for the last two months, the more I sit around and just wallow in sadness, the worse I feel.

From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2024

Again: What works within the humid environment under a bell jar or inside a narrow-mouthed lab flask is quite different from what flourishes in an open bowl or an uncovered fish tank.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2021

To Esther, madness is the descent of a stifling bell jar over her head.

From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021

How did I know that someday—at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere—the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn't descend again?

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath