bell book

American  

noun

Nautical.

1. a book in which all orders affecting the main engines of a ship are recorded.

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Etymology

Origin of bell book

So called from the special use of bells on a ship

Example Sentences

The isolationists were cursed with bell, book and candle; Administration leaders were wigged and trimmed for their fumbling delay; cartoonists kept a brush in brine for the isolationist leader, Montana's Burton K. Wheeler.

From Time Magazine Archive

Women at all levels of playing skill, and not a few tennis pros of both sexes, accuse the husband-player of as many sins as a bishop might curse with bell, book and candle.

From Time Magazine Archive

Perhaps it can once more be accepted as a legitimate pursuit of knowledge, no longer hedged in by bell, book and candle.

From Time Magazine Archive

When the Pope cursed him "with bell, book and candle," and at last excommunicated him, Henry replied that "if the Pope issued ten thousand excommunications, he would not care a straw."

From Time Magazine Archive

From her I walked across to the Abbey, and none too soon, for what with cloth-yard shafts for your body, and bell, book and candle for your soul, it was no very cheerful outlook.

From Sir Nigel by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir