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

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

The passing bell used to ask the private prayers of the faithful in behalf of the spirit passing from earth.

From Stones of the Temple Lessons from the Fabric and Furniture of the Church by Field, Walter

Some cost a passing bell, Some a light sigh That shakes from Life's fresh crown Only a roseleaf down.

From A History of Nineteenth Century Literature (1780-1895) by Saintsbury, George

Every syllable of this last sad wail is as a funeral knell to all our hopes, tolling mournfully; and, like a passing bell, attending them, too, to their "age-long home"!

From Old Groans and New Songs Being Meditations on the Book of Ecclesiastes by Jennings, Frederick Charles