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Noun: bell  bel
  1. A hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
    "The school bell rang to signal the end of class"
     
  2. A push button at an outer door that gives a ringing or buzzing signal when pushed
    "The visitor pressed the bell and waited patiently";
    - doorbell, buzzer
     
  3. The sound of a bell being struck
    "saved by the bell"; "she heard the distant toll of church bells";
    - 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
    "The ship's bell rang six times, indicating it was 3:00 or 7:00";
    - ship's bell
     
  5. The shape of a bell
    "The flower had a distinctive bell shape";
    - bell shape, campana
     
  6. A percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned bells that are struck with a hammer; used as an orchestral instrument
    "The bell added a magical quality to the composition";
    - chime, gong
     
  7. The flared opening of a tubular device
    "The bell of the trumpet gleamed in the spotlight"
Verb: bell  bel
  1. Attach a bell to
    "bell cows"
     
  2. Shape to flare out like a bell
    "The skirt bells at the bottom, creating a graceful silhouette"
Noun: Bell  bel
  1. Scottish-born American inventor best known for inventing the telephone and founding the Bell Telephone Company (1847-1922)
    - Alexander Bell, Alexander Graham Bell
     
  2. A phonetician and father of Alexander Graham Bell (1819-1905)
    - Melville Bell, Alexander Melville Bell
     
  3. English painter; sister of Virginia Woolf; prominent member of the Bloomsbury Group (1879-1961)
    - Vanessa Bell, Vanessa Stephen

Sounds like: bel, belle, Bel

Derived forms: belling, belled, Bells, bells

Type of: acoustic device, artificer, attach, button, curve, curved shape, discoverer, inventor, opening, painter, percussion instrument, percussive instrument, phonetician, push, push button, signaling device, sound, time unit, unit of time

Part of: Bloomsbury Group, blunderbuss, breath, funnel, wind, wind instrument

Encyclopedia: Bell, Mary