bell

1
[ bel ]
/ bɛl /

noun

verb (used with object)

to cause to swell or expand like a bell (often followed by out): Belling out the tubes will permit a freer passage of air.
to put a bell on.

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).

Idioms for bell

Origin of bell

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

OTHER WORDS FROM bell

bell-less, adjective

Definition for bell (2 of 3)

bell 2
[ 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
1275–1325; 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; akin to Lithuanian bal̃sas voice, Sanskrit bhaṣ- bark, bhāṣ- speak. See bellow, belch

Definition for bell (3 of 3)

Bell
[ bel ]
/ bɛl /

noun

Example sentences from the Web for bell

British Dictionary definitions for bell (1 of 3)

bell 1
/ (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)

bell 2
/ (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

Medical definitions for bell

Bell
[ bĕl ]
Sir Charles 1774-1842

British anatomist and surgeon who published detailed anatomies of the nervous system and the brain. He was the first to distinguish between sensory and motor nerves. Bell's Law and Bell's palsy are named for him.

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.

Idioms and Phrases with bell

bell