bell book
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of bell book
So called from the special use of bells on a ship
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
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
They resort to bell, book and candle only when psychiatrists have given up.
From Time Magazine Archive
She was my wife legally; bell, book, and candle were all there.
From The Locusts' Years by Fee, Mary Helen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
