passing bell

American  

noun

1. a bell tolled to announce a death or funeral.

2. a portent or sign of the passing away of anything.

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passing bell British  

noun

1. Also called: death bell.   death knell.  a bell rung to announce a death or a funeral

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Etymology

Origin of passing bell

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

passing bell

In Bishop Blougram's Apology, Browning's bishop says of the "-ologies" that they are "the Greek endings, the little passing bell that signifies some faith's about to die."

From Time Magazine Archive

Somewhere near, a passing bell was tolling; the dogs all round the neighbourhood were howling; and in our shrubbery, seemingly just outside, a nightingale was singing.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

Bede, in speaking of the death of the Abbess of St. Hilda, says that a sister in a distant monastery thought that she heard in her sleep the well-known sound of the passing bell.

From Old Church Lore by Andrews, William

Dear, dear!" what a passing bell for the souls of the fretful to soothe them and solace them, lap them in linen, saying, "So long.

From Monday or Tuesday by Woolf, Virginia

The grave-digger yonder doth hear the knell, More heavy yet, of the passing bell.

From Poems of Emile Verhaeren by Verhaeren, Emile