sound as a bell
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In excellent condition, as in Now that the brakes have been relined, the car is sound as a bell, or The surgery went well and now he's sound as a bell. This simile rests on the assumption that the bell in question is not cracked (which would make it useless). First recorded in 1565, it has survived numerous other similes (sound as a top or roach or dollar), probably owing to its pun on “sound.”
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QUIZ YOURSELF ON “ITS” VS. “IT’S”!
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Question 1 of 12
On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.
Words nearby sound as a bell
sou marqué, sound, soundalike, sound-and-light, sound-and-light show, sound as a bell, sound barrier, sound bite, sound block, soundboard, sound bow
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.