Forms: 1–7 belle, (4 bill), 4–7 bel, 6– bell. [A common LG. word: OE. belle wk. fem. = MDu. and MLG. belle, Du. bel (in Icel. bjalla from OE.), not occurring in other Teutonic languages; perhaps from same root as BELL v.4 to make a loud noise, roar. The history of the transferred sense 4 is not quite certain.]
I. Properly.
1. A hollow body of cast metal, formed to ring, or emit a clear musical sound, by the sonorous vibration of its entire circumference, when struck by a clapper, hammer, or other appliance. The typical form, found in all large bells (and indicated by the expression bell-shaped), is that of an inverted deep cup with a recurving brim, which is struck by a ‘clapper’ or ‘tongue,’ usually suspended from the center of the interior.
Other forms, used only in small bells, are a section of a hollow sphere, struck by a hammer impelled by a spring as in the bell of a house-clock, a table bell, etc., and a hollow sphere containing an unattached or freely suspended solid metal ball which answers the purpose of a tongue.
Bells of the regular form vary greatly in size and weight. a. The larger kinds are used for giving signals of various import (time, danger, etc.) to the inhabitants of a town or district, and especially in connection with public worship (cf. CHIME); the smaller kinds are used for similar purposes in a house (e.g., door-bell, dinner-bell, electric-bell). b. Small bells are frequently used for decoration, e.g., on a horse’s trappings, a falcon’s leg, the cap of a fool or jester, etc.
a. a. 1000. Chart. Leofric, in Cod. Dipl., IV. 275. He hæfð ðiderynn ʓedon … vii. uphangene bella.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 215. Boc oðer belle, calch oðer messe-ref.
1297. R. Glouc., 509. Me rong bellen, & vaste the ropes drou.
c. 1425. Seven Sag. (P.), 2285. Quod the emperour, ‘By Goddis belle, Of that cas thou most me telle.’
1538. Bale, Thre Lawes, 1197. In bedes and in belles, not vsed of the turkes.
1602. Return fr. Parnass., II. vi. (Arb.), 33. Then goe to his meate when the Bell rings.
1692. Bp. Ely, Answ. Touchstone, 72. A man … to whom the Bell clinks just as he thinks.
1782. Cowper, A. Selkirk, iv. The sound of the church-going bell.
a. 1815. in G. Rose, Diaries (1860), II. 438. He put out his hand to pull the bell.
1835. Marryat, Olla Podr., x. He’s running … to answer the bell.
b. c. 1200. Ormin, 950. Tatt Iudisskenn preost wass … Bihenngedd all wiþþ belless.
1382. Wyclif, Judg. viii. 21. The ournementis, and billis [1388 bellis] with the whiche the neckis of kyngis chamels ben wonyd to be anourned.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, D iij. The bellis that yowre hawke shall wheer, looke … that thay be not to heuy.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., III. iii. 81. As the Oxe hath his bow … and the Falcon her bels.
1611. Bible, Zech. xiv. 20. Vpon the bels of the horses, Holines Vnto The Lord.
1742. Jarvis, Quix., I. III. xxiii. (1885), 134. I will not have a dog with a bell.
1855. Tennyson, Maud, I. vi. vii. Often a man’s own angry pride Is cap and bells for a fool.
2. With various words prefixed to describe its shape, material, etc., or define its use, as ALARM-BELL, bridle-bell, church-bell, clock-bell, curfew-bell, dinner-bell, door-bell, hand-bell, marriage-bell, night-bell, sheep-bell, town-bell; and esp. in eccles. use, as bearing-bell, houseling-bell, lich-bell, sacring-bell, sanctus- or saunce-bell; death-bell, passing-bell, a bell tolled to announce a death.
a. 1508. Kennedy, Flyting w. Dunbar, 506. Ane benefice quha wald gyue sic ane beste, Bot gif it war to gyngill Iudas bellis!
1548. Patten, Exp. Scotl., in Arb., Garner, III. 71. Pardon beads, Saint Anthony’s bells, Tauthrie laces.
1552–3. Inv. Ch. Goods Staffordsh. (has passim), Bearing-bell, clock-bell, hand-bell, houseling-bell, lyche-bell, sacring-bell, sanctus-bell, visiting-bell.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., IV. iv. 4. The curphew Bell hath rung.
c. 1620. Z. Boyd, Zion’s Flowers (1855), 36. Thou a passing bell, ’Gainst their transgressions did so loudly knell.
1816. Byron, Ch. Har., III. xxi. And all went merry as a marriage bell.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xxvii. Every word fell on Butler’s ear like the knell of a death-bell.
1842. Tennyson, Lady of Shalott, III. ii. The bridle bells rang merrily.
1861. [Mrs. A. J. Penny], Romance Dull Life, xlviii. 358. Listening to the idly busy sound of sheep-bells all around her.
1863. Longf., Falc. Federigo, 110. A passing bell Tolled from the tower.
3. spec. A bell rung to tell the hours; the bell of a clock; whence the obs. phrases of, on, at the bell = o’clock.
1422. MS. at Hatfield Ho. In the morowe tide bitwene vj and vij of the belle died Kyng Charles.
c. 1447. Eng. Chron., App. 117. Appon iij on the belle at aftrenone.
1448. Shillingford, Lett. (1871), 61. On tuysday … at iij. atte belle afternone.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. ccxxxii. 322. This batayle endured fro ix. of ye bell, tyll it was past hye none.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., I. ii. 45. The clocke hath strucken twelue vpon the bell.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., I. 55. The bell strikes one.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, III. vi. 81. As the shrill-toned bell of the black marble study-clock began to chime nine.
b. Naut. The bell which is struck on shipboard, every half hour, to indicate by the number of strokes the number of half-hours of the watch which have elapsed; a period of half-an-hour thus indicated. (See quots.).
1836. Marryat, Midsh. Easy, ix. It struck seven bells, and he accompanied Mr. Jolliffe on deck.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, iv. 8. At seven bells in the morning all hands were called aft.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 94. We say it is two bells, three bells, etc., meaning there are two or three half-hours past. The watch of four hours is eight bells.
II. Transferred to bell-shaped objects.
4. A corolla shaped like a bell; hence in the name of various flowering plants, esp. of the genus Campanula, e.g., BLUE-BELL, CANTERBURY BELLS, HAREBELL; Dead Men’s Bells (dialectal name of the Foxglove), HEATHER-BELL, etc.
1610. Shaks., Temp., V. i. 90. In a Cowslips bell, I lie.
1637. Milton, Lycidas, 135. Bid them hither cast Their bells and flowerets.
1742. R. Blair, Grave, 254. Dew-drops on the bells of flowers.
1847. De Quincey, Joan of Arc, Wks. III. 209. Flower nor bud, bell nor blossom would ever bloom for her.
5. Frequently applied to vessels bell-shaped, as a bell-glass, diving-bell, etc.
1641. French, Distill., iii. (1651), 68. The Bell must hang at such a distance from the other vessell.
1693. Evelyn, De la Quint. Compl. Gard., Gloss., Bells, are large Glasses made in the form of Bells, to clap over tender Plants or such as are to be forced.
c. 1715. Halley, in Sat. Mag., 20 April (1839), 147/1. The … cavity of the [diving] bell was kept … free from water.
6. Any object or portion of an object shaped like a bell; esp. in various technical uses:
a. Arch. ‘The naked vase or corbeille of the Corinthian or Composite capitals, round which the foliage and volutes are arranged.’ Gwilt.
1848. Rickman, Archit., 33. The bell is set round with two rows of leaves, eight in each row.
1851. Ruskin, Stones Ven., I. ix. 102. The sloping stone is called the Bell of the capital.
b. The everted orifice of a trumpet or other wind instrument.
1856. Mrs. C. Clarke, Berlioz’ Instrum., 130. The narrower the opening left in the bell [of a horn], the … rougher the note.
c. The body of a helmet.
1874. Boutell, Arms & Arm., iii. 55. The other variety … has the bell of a more conical form. Ibid., v. 77. The figures … on the sides of the bell of the head-piece.
d. Mech. (See quot.)
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., Bell and hopper … an iron hopper with a large central opening, which is closed by a cone or bell, pulled up into it from below.
e. (See quot.) Cf. bell-tent in 12.
1858. Beveridge, Hist. India, III. IX. i. 559. The bells, or small huts, where the native arms … were deposited.
III. Phrases.
7. To bear the bell: to take the first place, to have foremost rank or position, to be the best. To bear or carry away the bell: to carry off the prize. The former phrase refers to the bell worn by the leading cow or sheep (cf. BELL-WETHER) of a drove or flock; the latter, perhaps, to a golden or silver bell sometimes given as the prize in races and other contests; but the two have been confused.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, III. 149. And, let se which of yow shal bere the belle To speke of love aright?
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., 88. Of alle the foles I can telle … Ye thre bere the belle.
1470. Harding, Chron., lxxxi. xi. At the last the Brytons bare the bell, And had the felde and all the victorye.
1594. Barnfield, Aff. Sheph., II. xxxix. For pure white the Lilly beares the Bell.
1594. Carew, Huarte’s Exam. Wits, xiii. (1596), 215. Iulius Cæsar … bare away the bell (in respect of fortunatenesse) from all other captains of the world.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., To Rdr. 49. True merchants, they carry away the bell from all other nations.
1713. Lond. & Country Brewer, IV. (1743), 295. A very heady Malt Liquor, which … carries the Bell, by having the Name of the best Drink far and near.
1773. Pennant’s Tour N. Wales, 193. A little golden bell was the reward of victory in 1607, at the races near York; whence came the proverb for success of any kind, to bear the bell.
1817. Byron, Beppo, x. Venice the bell from every city bore.
† b. Similarly, To deserve or lose the bell, to give the bell. Obs.
1600. Fairfax, Tasso, XVII. lxix. When in single fight he lost the bell.
a. 1619. Fotherby, Atheom., I. iv. § 4 (1622), 25. The follie of the Romanes doth well deserue the Bell.
1686. Aglionby, Paint. Illustr., 278. Which gave him the Bell above all Modern Artists.
8. By bell and book, book and bell (i.e., those used in the service of the mass): a frequent asseveration in the Middle Ages. To curse by bell, book, and candle: referring to a form of excommunication which closed with the words, ‘Doe to the book, quench the candle, ring the bell!’ Also used as summarizing the resources of the hierarchy against heretics, or the terrors of excommunication; and humorously, to indicate the accessories of a religious ceremony.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 17110. Curced in kirc þan sal þai be wid candil, boke, and bell.
c. 1400. Ywaine & Gaw., 3023. So bus the do, by bel and boke.
c. 1420. Anters Arth., iii. That borne was in Burgoyne, be boke and by belle.
1595. Shaks., John, III. iii. 12. Bell, Booke, & Candle, shall not driue me back, When gold and siluer becks me to come on!
1611. L. Barry, Ram Alley, in Dodsley, O. Pl., V. 447. I have a priest will mumble up a marriage, Without bell, book, or candle.
1680. Spir. Popery, 45. The Field-Preachers damned this Bond with Bell, Book, and Candle.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, I. 155. Hold thy hand, on pain of bell, book, and candle.
9. With allusion to the fable of the mice (or rats) who proposed to hang a bell round the cat’s neck, so as to be warned of its approach. See also bell the cat in BELL v.5
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. Prol. 168. Bugge a belle of brasse … And hangen it vp-on þe cattes hals; þanne here we mowen Where he ritt or rest.
a. 1529. Skelton, Col. Cloute, 164. Loth to hang the bell aboute the cattes necke.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 32. I will hang the bell about the cats necke.
1627. E. F., Hist. Edw. II. (1680), 14. Wishing some one would shew undaunted valour, to tye the Bell about the Cat’s neck.
10. As sound or as clear as a bell; see SOUND a., CLEAR a.
IV. Comb. and Attrib.
11. General relations: a. simple attrib., as bell-canopy, -chamber, -chime, -clapper, -cot, -cote, -end (see 6 b), -loft, -steeple, -toll, -tower; b. objective, as bell-baptism, -bearer, -caster, -casting, -hallower, -maker; c. similative and parasynthetic, as bell-button, -cup, -lamp, -mouth, -net, -shape; bell-bored, -crowned, -fashioned, -hooded, -mouthed, -nosed, -shaped; d. instrumental with pa. pple., as bell-hung. Also bell-like adj.
1872. Ellacombe, Bells of Ch., v. 78. The ceremony of *bell baptism exceeds in splendour and minutiæ the baptism of Christians.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 189. Neither have Goats a Captain or *Bell-bearer like unto Sheep.
1851. H. Melville, Whale, vi. 36. He orders *bell-buttons to his waistcoats.
1628. in Earwaker, E. Cheshire, I. 107, note. Going to enquire for the *bellcaster.
1872. Ellacombe, Bells of Ch., i. 3. I describe the modern process of *bell casting.
1848. Rickman, Archit., 153. Sound-holes … are not used in the *bell-chamber.
1819. Shelley, Peter Bell, VI. Like a crazed *bell-chime, out of tune.
1498. Church-w. Acc. St. Dunstan’s, Canterb. For makyng of new *belclappers … xiijs. iiijd.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 14. Large Bell-clappers, large Pestles for Mortars, & all thick strong Bars, &c.
1859. Turner, Dom. Archit., III. II. vii. 338. A *bell-cot projecting from the face of the wall.
1877. Ll. Jewitt, Half-hrs. among Eng. Antiq., 175. The Sanctus or Saunce Bell generally, but not always, hung in a small bell-cote at the apex of the gable.
1854. J. Stephens, Centr. Amer. (1854), 18. A *bell-crowned straw hat.
a. 1849. J. C. Mangan, Poems (1859), 308. From gloomy iron *bell-cups they drank the Saxon wine.
1874. Chappell, Hist. Music, I. ix. 267. The *bell-ends of certain pipes.
1698. J. Petiver, in Phil. Trans., XX. 315. A large *Bell-fashioned cinereous Calyx.
1549. Latimer, Serm. bef. Edw. VI. (Arb.), 135. Preachers, not *Belhalowers.
1883. E. Ingersoll, in Harper’s Mag., Jan., 208/1. The smoke … escaped up a big *bell-hooded flue in the ceiling.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., II. III. 145. The *bell-hung bridle-rein.
1836. Dickens, Sk. Boz. The *bell-lamp in the passage.
1769. Sir J. Hill, Fam. Herbal (1789), 307. The flowers are … of a *bell-like shape.
1865. F. Boyle, Dyaks of Borneo, 56. Sending forth his clear bell-like challenge.
1764. in Phil. Trans., LIV. 213. In the *bell-loft at St. Bride’s.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, V. 1589. *Belmakers, bokebynders, brasiers fyn.
1483. Cath. Angl., 27. A Belle maker, campanarius.
1837. Marryat, Dog-fiend, ii. The *bell-mouth of his speaking trumpet.
1823. Byron, Juan, XIII. lxxii. His *bell-mouth’d goblet makes me feel quite … Dutch with thirst.
1856. Mrs. Browning, Aur. Leigh, 9. The very sky Dropping its *bell-net down upon the sea.
1881. Greener, Gun, 56. The barrel is … *bell-nosed upon the outside.
1874. Boutell, Arms & Arm., iii. 55. One is a helm of a deep *bell shape.
1757. Phil. Trans., L. 65. Campaniform or *bell-shaped flowers.
1879. A. Bennett, in Academy, 32. The open bell-shaped mouth of the corolla.
1847. Ld. Lindsay, Chr. Art, I. 22. The round towers of Ireland … are *bell-steeples.
1861. T. L. Peacock, Gryll Grange, 308. On the dreary midnight air Rolled the deep *bell toll.
1614. Speed, Theat. Gt. Brit., xxxiv. 67. Whose steeple or *bell-tower being both beautiful and high.
1879. Sir C. Scott, Lect. Archit., I. 258. The bell-tower … becomes the culminating ornament of the whole exterior.
12. Special combinations: bell-animalcules, -animals, English name for the Vorticellidæ, infusorial animalcules having a bell- or wine-glass-shaped body on a long flexible stalk; bell-binder, the large Wild Convolvulus or Bindweed; bell-bit, ‘the bit of a bridle made in the form of a bell’ (Halliw.); bell-boat, a boat with a bell freely suspended on it so as to ring as the vessel is moved by the waves, and thus give notice of danger; so bell-buoy, a buoy with a bell; bell-bridle, a bridle hung or adorned with bells; † bell-course, a race for a bell; bell-crank, a crank or species of lever adapted to communicate motion from one bell-wire to another lying at right angles to it; also attrib.; † bell-dream, the sound or music of a bell; bell-faced (of a hammer), having the striking surface convex or rounded; bell-gable, a gable or turret in which bells are hung; bell-girdle, a girdle or belt hung or adorned with bells; bell-handle, the handle by which a bell-rope or bell-wire is pulled; bell-hanger, one whose business it is to put up bells, bell-wires, etc.; hence bell-hanging; bell-harp (see quot.); bell-heather, the cross-leaved heath, Erica tetralix (Jam.); bell-horn, a horn that gives a bell-like tone; bell-horse, a horse wearing a bell or bells, esp. a horse adorned with bells, flowers, ribbons, etc., to celebrate the advent of May; hence bell-horse-day, the first of May; bell-jar, a bell-shaped glass jar used in chemical and physical laboratories; bell-less a., destitute of a bell; bell-mare, in herding mules on the prairies, a mare that wears a bell and acts as leader to the troop, etc.; † bell-melter, a bell-founder, a founder; bell-moth, a group of moths of the family Tortricidæ, named from their outline when at rest; bell pepper, a species of Capsicum (C. grossum), so called from the shape of the fruit; bell-polype (= bell-animalcule); bell-pull, a cord or handle attached to a bell-wire, by pulling which the bell is rung; bell-rheometer, a bell-shaped instrument for measuring the strength of an electric current; bell-roof, a roof shaped like a bell; bell-rose, the daffodil (Somerset); bell-stone, the part of a column that lies between the shaft and the abacus (cf. 6 a); bell-string = BELL-ROPE; bell-team, a team of horses adorned with bells; bell-tent, a tent resembling a bell in shape; bell-top (see quot.); bell-trap, a stench-trap resembling a bell in shape; bell-tubing, tubing through which a bell-wire is passed in order to protect it; † bell-vessel, a diving-bell; bell-ware (see quot.); bell-waver v. Sc., ‘to fluctuate, to be inconstant; applied to the mind’ (Jam.); bell-weight, a weight shaped somewhat like a bell; bell-wheel, the wheel to which an ordinary church-bell is attached, and by which it is swung; bell-wire, the wire by which a bell-pull is connected with the bell; † bell-yetter, a bell-founder (lit. ‘bell-pourer’).
See also BELL-BIRD, -FLOWER, -FOUNDER, -GLASS, -HOUSE, -MAN, -METAL, -RAGS, -RINGER, -ROPE, -WETHER, -WORT.
1617. Markham, Caval., II. 58. That bytt which we call the … Campanell or *Bell bytt.
1858. in Merc. Mar. Mag., V. 253. A *Bell Boat has been placed just outside the bar.
1626. Capt. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 32. To know wether she be … taper or *belbored.
1836. Marryat, Midsh. Easy (1863), 143. Two fine mules with *bell bridles.
1617. Markham, Caval., I. 12. I haue seene them vsed at our English *Bell-courses.
1884. F. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 32. *Bell Crank Lever … a lever whose two arms form a right angle.
c. 1200. Ormin, 922. Þe *belledræm bitacneþþ ȝuw … dræm þatt ȝuw birrþ herenn.
1845. Gloss. Goth. Arch., I. 54. In small churches and chapels that have no towers, there is very frequently a *bell-gable or turret at the west end in which the bells are hung.
1831. Carlyle, Sart. Res., I. v. 39. Whether he … tower up in high headgear, from amid peaks, spangles and *bell-girdles.
1765. Tucker, Lt. Nat., I. 387. A *bell-handle hanging by your chimney side.
1791. in Harper’s Mag., March 1885. 534/2. Pd a *bell hanger on a/c 5s.
1851. W. Irving, in Life, IV. 71. Plumbers and bellhangers [are] to attack the vitals of the house.
1798. W. Hutton, Autobiog., 17. One of them played upon the *bell-harp.
1815. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 5), X. 277/1. Bell-Harp, a musical instrument of the string kind, thus called from the common players on it swinging it about, as a bell on its basis.
1622. Fletcher, Beggars’ B., III. iv. Rouse ye the lofty stag, and with my *bell-horn Ring him a knell.
1878. Huxley, Physiogr., 77. These bubbles may be … collected in the *bell-jar.
1667. Waterhouse, Fire Lond., 87. The tops of Steeples *Belless.
1859. Marcy, Prairie Trav., iv. 101. A *bell-mare, to which the mules soon become so attached that they will follow her wherever she goes.
1604. Supplic. Masse-priests, § 10, note. Popes, Monkes, or Friars, the originall *belmelters of Poperie.
1841. E. Newman, Hist. Insects, IV. ii. 214. *Bell-moths … with filiform antennæ.
1707. Sloane, Jamaica, I. 241. *Bell Pepper. The fruit is large … somewhat shaped like a bell.
1832. Veg. Subst. Food, 314. The *Bell Pepper … a biennial … native of India.
1832. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. III. (1863), 496. The *bell-pull was within reach: but she had an aversion to ringing the bell.
1846. Lytton, Lucretia (1853), 185. Beside the door … a row of some ten or twelve bell-pulls.
1865. Cornh. Mag., XI. 167. A pair of large tassels with loops of cord-like bell-pulls.
1876. Gwilt, Archit., 1195. *Bell Roof … is often called an ogee roof, from its form.
1522–4. Church-w. Acc. St. Dunstan’s, Canterb. For mendyng of the *bellstoke viijd.
1851. Ruskin, Stones Ven., I. ix. § vi. [The] treatment of the capital depends simply on the manner in which this *bell stone is prepared.
1464. in Ripon Ch. Acts, 222. Le *bell strynges sunt dejectiva.
1824. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. I. (1863), 199. Walking … by the side of his *bell-team.
1785. Roy, in Phil. Trans., LXXV. 393. One of the pyramidal *bell-tents … being placed at the station.
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 96. *Bell-top, a term applied to the top of a quarter-gallery when the upper stool is hollowed away.
1876. Gwilt, Archit., § 2218 b. The usual iron *bell trap, as supplied to a sink.
1881. Mechanic, § 1540. 692. It is usual … to provide for the passage of the bell wires from floor to floor by inserting *bell-tubing in the walls.
1816. Chron., in Ann. Reg., 93/1. The *bell-vessel was … lowered with Fisher and two other men … in 33 feet of water.
1812. Agric. Surv. Caithn., 182 (Jam.). *Bell-ware … is the kelp weed along the Scottish shores.
1820. Scott, Monast., vii. ‘I doubt me his wits have gone a *‘bell-wavering’.
1743. Phil. Trans., XLII. 552. Pound *Bell-Weights, and the single Pound flat Weight.
1529. Church-w. Acc. St. Dunstan’s, Canterb. For mendyng of the *belwhele, xd.
1759. Phil. Trans., LI. 288. The *Bell-wire, coming from the parlour below.
1865. N. Arnott, Elem. Physics, II. 445. Bell-wires too slack in summer, may be of the proper length in winter.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 30. *Bellȝetare, campanarius.
1881. J. Briscoe, Nottinghamsh., 118. The *bellyetters trade has now found its way … into the hands of a few great firms.
