Bow bells
Americanplural noun
Etymology
Origin of Bow bells
First recorded in 1590–1600
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.
Miranda’s schedule being what it is, we don’t have time to debate the location of Bow bells, so I ask if it was weird singing songs he didn’t write.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 1, 2018
Traditionally, a Cockney is anyone "born within the sound of Bow bells" - the bells of St.Mary-le-Bow church in the heart of medieval London.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2012
Yet I welcome the digital download of Bow bells if it can encourage the virtues of self-reliance and magnanimity that are characteristic of these unjustly misrepresented people.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 26, 2012
"I'm afraid our 'Enery will 'ave to 'it 'im over the bonce with Bow bells to beat 'im," admitted one Londoner.
From Time Magazine Archive
“If ever been where bells have knolled to church”; if you have ever been within sound of Bow bells; if you have ever been happy and haughty enough to call yourself a Cockney.
From Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)
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.
