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bell

1
[ bel ]
/ bɛl /
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noun
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
to take or have the form of a bell.
Botany. to produce bells; be in bell (said of hops when the seed vessels are forming).
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Idioms about bell

Origin of bell

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English belle; cognate with Dutch bel; derivative of bell2

OTHER WORDS FROM bell

bell-less, adjective

Other definitions for bell (2 of 3)

bell2
[ bel ]
/ bɛl /

verb (used with or without object)
to bellow like a stag in rutting time.
to bay, as a hunting dog.
noun
the cry of a rutting stag or hunting dog.

Origin of bell

2
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bellen, Old English bellan “to roar”; cognate with Old High German bellan, German bellen “to bark,” Middle Dutch bellen, belen, Old Norse belja; see bellow, belch

Other definitions for bell (3 of 3)

Bell
[ bel ]
/ bɛl /

noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bell in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bell (1 of 3)

bell1
/ (bɛl) /

noun
verb

Word Origin for bell

Old English belle; related to Old Norse bjalla, Middle Low German bell; see bell ²

British Dictionary definitions for bell (2 of 3)

bell2
/ (bɛl) /

noun
a bellowing or baying cry, esp that of a hound or a male deer in rut
verb
to utter (such a cry)

Word Origin for bell

Old English bellan; related to Old Norse belja to bellow, Old High German bellan to roar, Sanskrit bhāsate he talks; see bellow

British Dictionary definitions for bell (3 of 3)

Bell
/ (bɛl) /

noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for bell

Bell
[ bĕl ]
Alexander Graham 1847-1922

Scottish-born American scientist and inventor whose lifelong interest in the education of deaf people led him to conceive the idea of transmitting speech by electric waves. In 1876 his experiments with a telegraph resulted in his invention of the telephone. He later produced the first successful sound recorder, an early hearing aid, and many other devices.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with bell

bell

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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