Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The bell that announces a death; the passing-bell.
- noun A sound in the ears like that of a tolling bell, supposed by the superstitious to presage death.
- noun Also, rarely, dead-bell.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Examples
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When men he has wronged, and on whom he has bestowed his insolence, are getting ready to be hanged, there is a death-bell ringing.
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I could only see one of the two sights, and therefore naturally preferred the latter, while I only heard tolling at a distance the death-bell of the sacrifice to justice.
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Strike the slow death-bell! — weave the sacred verse,
Narrative of the Voyages Round The World, Performed by Captain James Cook
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Strike the slow death-bell! — weave the sacred verse,
Narrative of the Voyages Round The World, Performed by Captain James Cook
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Robin had expected a hollow, booming voice, like the tolling of a death-bell.
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While all was hush'd, save that the lone death-bell
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 10, No. 274, September 22, 1827
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There are eight bells in Saint Helen's tower, but the fifth or sixth is generally used as the Curfew, to distinguish it from the death-bell, for which purpose the tenor is used, and is rung at the same time at night if a death has happened in the course of the day, and for that night supersedes the necessity of ringing the Curfew.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 19, No. 545, May 5, 1832
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Just then the deep tone of the Castle death-bell came swelling across the river from the other side.
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Can your pupils image the wedding-bells chiming from the cathedral some afternoon in June, when suddenly the ear catches the sound of a death-bell tolling from another church?
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One thing was really striking; -- a huge cone of stalactite hung from the roof of the largest apartment, and, on being struck, gave perfectly the sound of a death-bell.
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