belfry

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A bell tower, especially one attached to a building.
2. n. The part of a tower or steeple in which bells are hung.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A movable wooden tower used in the middle ages in attacking fortified places. It consisted of several stages, was mounted on wheels, and was generally covered with raw hides to protect those under it from fire, boiling oil, etc. The lowermost story sometimes sheltered a battering-ram; the stories intermediate between it and the uppermost were filled with bowmen, arbalisters, etc., to gall the defenders; while the uppermost story was furnished with a drawbridge to let down on the wall, over which the storming party rushed to the assault.
2. n. A stationary tower near a fortified place, in which were stationed sentinels to watch the surrounding country and give notice of the approach of an enemy. It was furnished with a bell to give the alarm to the garrison, and also to summon the vassals of a feudal lord to his defense. This circumstance helped the belief that the word was connected with bell.
3. n. A bell-tower, generally attached to a church or other building, but sometimes standing apart as an independent structure.
4. n. That part of a steeple or other structure in which a bell is hung; particularly, the frame of timberwork which sustains the bell. See cut under bell-gable.
5. n. Nautical, the ornamental frame in which the ship's bell is hung.
6. n. A shed used as a shelter for cattle or for farm implements or produce.

Wiktionary

1. n. obsolete A moveable tower used in sieges.
2. n. dialectal A shed.
3. n. obsolete An alarm-tower; a watchtower containing an alarm-bell.
4. n. architecture A tower or steeple specifically for containing bells, especially as part of a church.
5. n. architecture A part of a large tower or steeple, specifically for containing bells.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Mil. Antiq.) A movable tower erected by besiegers for purposes of attack and defense.
2. n. A bell tower, usually attached to a church or other building, but sometimes separate; a campanile.
3. n. A room in a tower in which a bell is or may be hung; or a cupola or turret for the same purpose.
4. n. (Naut.) The framing on which a bell is suspended.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a room (often at the top of a tower) where bells are hung
2. n. a bell tower; usually stands alone unattached to a building