Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A bell for use at night, as in rousing a physician or an apothecary.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • When the man from The Two Robins rang the night-bell, I was just thinking of going to bed.

    The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices 2007

  • The night-bell which had been fixed when Fitzpiers first took up his residence there still remained; but as it had fallen into disuse with the collapse of his practice, and his elopement, she did not venture to pull it now.

    The Woodlanders 2006

  • He had his night-bell altered and placed in the room in which the good old lady had grumbled for many a long year, and he slept in the great large bed there.

    The History of Pendennis 2006

  • Tossing off the opossum-rug, which had grown unbearably heavy, he sprang to his feet; was wide awake and at the window, staring sleep-charged into the dawn, before a human hand had found the night-bell and a distracted voice cried:

    Australia Felix 2003

  • But he seemed barely to have closed his eyes when the night-bell rang.

    Australia Felix 2003

  • As things stood at present his rest was wholly at the mercy of the night-bell — a remorseless instrument, given chiefly to pealing just as he had managed to drop off.

    Australia Felix 2003

  • He seemed hardly to have closed an eye when he was wakened by a loud knocking; at the same time the wire of the night-bell was almost wrenched in two.

    Australia Felix 2003

  • My night-bell was pulled very hastily, it was about two o'clock, the night was bright, it was autumn, and, as I hastened to see who wanted me in such a hurry, I saw two young girls sitting on my house-door steps: both had been running very fast, the case was urgent, and the little rest they took before the door was opened would enable them to return all the faster.

    The Mysteries of Montreal Being Recollections of a Female Physician Charlotte Fuhrer

  • When the night-bell has rung and all are in their beds -- the five hundred brethren, the many lay workers, the hundreds of guests gathered from all parts of

    A Tramp's Sketches Stephen Graham 1929

  • In winter's twilight, when the red sun glows, I can see the dark figures pass between the halls to the music of the night-bell.

    The Souls of Black Folk 1915

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