Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - bell

~ n 1 a piece of electrical equipment that makes a ringing sound, used as a signal or to get someone's attention  (The door bell rang but no-one answered it. | Ring the bell once to make the bus stop.) 2 usually singular) the sound of a bell ringing as a signal or a warning  (I didn't hear the bell, did you? | the bell goes (=makes a noise))  (The bell for the end of school went at 3.30.) 3 a hollow metal object shaped rather like a cup, that makes a ringing sound when it is hit by a piece of metal that hangs down inside it  (church bells) 4 give sb a bell BrE spoken to telephone someone  (I must give Vicky a bell later.) 5 something in the shape of a bell, hollow and getting wider at the end  (the bell of a flower)  (- see also diving bell, ring a bell ring2 (4), as clear as a bell clear1 (10), as sound as a bell sound3 (5))