bell meaning and definition

BELL noun

Definition of bell (noun)

1. a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
2. a push button at an outer door that gives a ringing or buzzing signal when pushed
   • synonyms: buzzer, doorbell
3. the sound of a bell being struck
   • "saved by the bell"; "she heard the distant toll of church bells"
   • synonyms: toll
4. (nautical) each of the eight half-hour units of nautical time signaled by strokes of a ship's bell; eight bells signals 4:00, 8:00, or 12:00 o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.
   • synonyms: ship's bell
5. the shape of a bell
   • synonyms: bell shape, campana
6. a phonetician and father of Alexander Graham Bell (1819-1905)
   • synonyms: Alexander Melville Bell, Melville Bell
7. English painter; sister of Virginia Woolf; prominent member of the Bloomsbury Group (1879-1961)
   • synonyms: Vanessa Bell, Vanessa Stephen
8. United States inventor (born in Scotland) of the telephone (1847-1922)
   • synonyms: Alexander Bell, Alexander Graham Bell
9. a percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned bells that are struck with a hammer; used as an orchestral instrument
   • synonyms: chime, gong
10. the flared opening of a tubular device

BELL verb

Definition of bell (verb)

1. attach a bell to
   • "bell cows"