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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. The ringing or sounding of bells.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. The ringing of a bell or of bells; a sound like that of ringing bells.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A tinkling sound, as of a bell or of breaking glass.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. the sound of a bell ringing

Etymologies

  1. From tintinnabulum.

Examples

  • “I just like the sound of the word tintinnabulation and if you look it up in the OED, it simply describes a sound made by the ringing of a bell.”

    BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition

  • “It is an example of what Mr. Pärt calls tintinnabulation, a slow, introspective style, with the strings playing in a high register, that often evokes the pealing of bells.”

    NYT > Home Page

  • “It's that tripping, multi-syllabic word that sounds like a bell clanging: "tintinnabulation" that I love so much.”

    The Washington Post: Edgar Allan Poe: On his birthday, a celebration of his words

  • “I've been looking for a way to work "tintinnabulation" into a post for a while -- very nicely done...and the fish looks delicious too!”

    Broiled Trout with Lemon Cream Sauce

  • “I also love Edgar Allen Poe's "tintinnabulation" from his poem, The Bells (excerpt below):”

    GottaBook

  • “Few settings would fail to be improved by the introduction of floating translucent orbs and music made by means of metaphysical tintinnabulation.”

    The Wall Street Journal: Inflating Some Peace and Quiet

  • “Prayer is a pure negotiation with angels on the right, two wrong too and hope, an accommodation in place of stroke, tintinnabulation of one billion clocks, stopped by a gong of long-held reservations.”

    Fictionaut: Repetitive Is The New Novena

  • “Cave honors his own definition with songs that truly "resonate with the susurration of sorrow, tintinnabulation of grief" like "Straight to You", "Nobody's Baby Now", and the slayer "Into My Arms".”

    The Huffington Post: Tamsin Smith: Sketches of Spain

  • “Today at Boing Boing Gadgets, the morning started with the shrill tintinnabulation of a green tea telephone, which we profusely stabbed with a handy philips head.”

    Boing Boing

  • “She lunged for her bag and retrieved the source of the tintinnabulation.”

    Simon & Schuster: One Flight Up

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘tintinnabulation’.

Comments

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  • Prolagus Its, not it's! Apr 17, 2009

  • wordieup The word just sounds like it's definition. Apr 17, 2009

  • zuccaciyecioglu Hear the sledges with the bells -
    Silver bells!
    What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
    How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
    In the icy air of night!
    While the stars that oversprinkle
    All the heavens, seem to twinkle
    With a crystalline delight;
    Keeping time, time, time,
    In a sort of Runic rhyme,
    To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
    From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
    Bells, bells, bells -
    From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

    The Bells, Edgar Allen Poe
    Sep 29, 2008

  • oroboros tintinnaBuLATion May 5, 2008

‘tintinnabulation’ has been looked up 6333 times, loved by 26 people, added to 144 lists, commented on 4 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.