belive 
belive 2 t, rfc., orig. prep. pltr. [Now only E. 
dial., also written telyve, Sc. belife, belyve, 
beli/, < ME. belive, belyi'e, belife, bilife, Wife, 
blwe, also bilifes, bilii-es, etc. ; sometimes used 
expletively; prop, two words, be live, be life, 
lit. by life, i. e., with life or activity; cf. alive 
and lively.] 1. With speed; quickly; eagerly. 
Kise, rise bylive, 
And unto batteil doe your selves addresae. 
Sponger, F. Q., II. viii. 18. 
Thou sclialte haue delyueraunce 
Be-lyue at thi list. York Plays, p. 281. 
2. Presently; ere long; by and by; anon: 
sometimes merely expletive. 
Twenty swarm of bees, 
Wliilk all the summer hum about the hive, 
And bring me wax and honey in Kline. 
B. Jonmn, Sad Shepherd, ii. 1. 
Belyve the elder bairns come drapping in. 
Burns, Cottar's Sat. Night. 
[Obsolete in both senses, except in Scotch.] 
belkt (belk), 11. t. [E. dial., < ME. belken, the 
unassibilated form of belchen, belch : see belch, 
and cf. balk 2 , bolk.~\ To belch; give vent to. 
Till I might belke revenge upon his eye_s. 
Marxton, Antonio and MelUda, II. i. 1. 
bell 1 (bel), . [Early mod. E. also bel, < ME. 
bel, belle, < AS. belle (=D. 6eZ = MLG. LG. belle; 
cf. Icel. bjalla, < AS. belle), a bell. Perhaps con- 
nected With bell 2 , v., roar.] 1. A hollow metal- 
lic instrument which gives forth a ringing 
sound, generally of a musical quality, when 
struck with a clapper, hammer, or other appli- 
ance. Its usual shape resembles that of an inverted cup 
with a flaring rim. If the bell is sta- 
tionary, it is often made saucer- 
shaped, and in this case is commonly 
termed a gong. Bells of this form are 
generally used as call-bells or signal- 
bells. Bells are made for many pur- 
poses and in a great variety of forms 
and sizes. They usually consist of an 
alloy of copper and tin, called bell- 
metal (which see). Church-bells are 
known to have been in use in Italy Be n (. 
about A. u. 400, and in France in the s, clapper, or tongue; 
sixth century. The earlier bells were c. ' clapper-bolt ; D, 
often four-sided, made of thin plates yoke ; f, cannon, or 
of iron riveted together. The manu- ear ',//, T'J ',, 
facture of the largest and finest "" /T barrel, 
bells has been developed since the 
fifteenth century. The largest ever made is the great 
bell of Moscow, called the Czar Kolokol, cast in 1733, 
and computed to weigh about 440,000 pounds. It is about 
19 feet in diameter and the same in height. It is sup- 
posed never to have been hung, and is now used as a 
chapel, having been raised in 1836 after lying half buried 
since 1737, when a piece was broken out of its side in a fire. 
The largest bell in actual use weighs 128 tons, and is also 
in Moscow. The bell of the Buddhist monastery Chi-on, in 
Kioto, Japan, was cast in 1633, and weighs 125,000 catties, 
or over 74 tons of 2,240 pounds each. Among the great 
Bell called Czar Kolokol, in the Kremlin, Moscow. 
French bells, the bourdon of Notre Dame, Paris, weighs 
about 17 tons ; the largest bell of Sens cathedral, 16 tons ; 
and that of Amiens cathedral, 11 tons. In England, the 
"Big Ben" of Westminster weighs over 13 tons, but is 
cracked: the "Great Peter," at York, 10 tons; and 
the "Great Tom," at Oxford, 7 tons. The new "Kaiser- 
glocke " of Cologne cathedral weighs 25 tons. For church- 
bells made to be rung in unison, see chime. In heraldry, 
the bells generally represented are hawks' bells, in shape 
like a small sleigh-bell; a hawk represented with these 
bells attached is said to be belled. When a bell of ordi- 
nary form is used as a bearing, it is called church-bell for 
distinction. 
But what art thou that seyst this tale, 
That werest on thyn hose a pale, 
And on thy tipet such a belle! 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1841. 
2. Anything in the form of a bell or compared 
to a bell. Specifically (a) A bell-shaped corolla of a 
514 
Where the bee sucks, there suck T ; 
In a cowslip's bell I lie. Shot., Tempest, v. 1. 
(!>) In arch., the plain echinus of a Corinthian or compo- 
site capital, around which the foliage and volutes are ar- 
ranged. Also called basket, (c) The large end of a fun- 
nel, or the end of a pipe, tube, or any musical instrument, 
when its edge is turned out and enlarged so as to resem- 
ble a bell. (3) The strobile, cone, or catkin containing the 
seed of the hop. (e) The pendulous dermal apptndaae 
under the throat of the male moose. (/) In hydroid 
polyps, the umbrella or gelatinous disk. 
3. pi. A number of small bells in the form of 
hawks' bells or sleigh-bells, fastened to a han- 
dle and constituting a toy for amusing an in- 
fant. 4. pi. Naut., the term employed on ship- 
board, as o'clock is on shore, to denote the 
divisions of daily time, from their being mark- 
ed by bells, which are struck every half-hour. 
The day, beginning at midnight, is divided into watches 
of four hours each, except the watch from 4 to 8 P. M., 
which is subdivided into two dog-watches. A full watch 
thus consists of eight half-hours, and its progress is noted 
by the number of strokes on the bell. For instance, 1 
o'clock P. M. is equivalent to two bells in the afternoon 
watch ; 3 o'clock, to six bells ; 4 o'clock, to eight bells, etc. 
Angelus bell, Gabriel bellt. Lady bell, a church- 
bell rung to remind those within hearing to recite the 
augelus. See anyelus. Ave bell, Ave Maria bell, or 
Ave Mary bell. Same as angelus bell. 
I could never hear the Am Mary bell without an eleva- 
tion, or think it a sufficient warrant because they erred 
in one circumstance for me to err in all that is, in si- 
lence and dumb contempt. 
Sir T. Browne, Eeligio Medici, i. 3. 
Bell, book, and candle, a phrase popularly used in con- 
nection with a mode of solemn excommunication for- 
merly practised in the Roman Catholic Church. After 
the formula had been read and the book closed, the assis- 
tants cast the lighted candles they held in their hands 
to the ground so as to extinguish them, and the bells 
were rung together without order; the last two cere- 
monies symbolized the disorder and going out of grace 
in the souls of the persons excommunicated. Blessed 
or hallowed bell, in the Rom. Cath. Ch., a bell which has 
received the solemn blessing of the church, in which the 
bishop prays that its sound may avail to summon the 
faithful; to excite their devotion, to drive away storms, 
and that the powers of the air, hearing it, may tremble 
and flee before the standard of the holy cross of the 
Son of God engraved upon it, etc. Elevation or Sanc- 
tus bell, in the Rom. Cath. Ch., a bell rung during the 
celebration of mass to give notification of the more solemn 
portions: now usually a small hand-bell, but in prc- 
Keformation English churches a large bell often hung 
in a bell-gable erected over the nave, immediately above 
the entrance of the chancel, from which it was rung by 
one of the acolytes. Oxford Glossary, p. 74. In the 
bell, (a) In flower. [Scotch.] (b) In seed, or having the 
seed-capsules formed, as hops. Mass bell Same as 
sacring bell. Recording bell, a bell attached to a hand- 
punch, or to an instrument of similar purpose, with which 
fares collected, as by a conductor, etc., or moneys taken 
in, as at a bar, are recorded. Sacring bell, a bell rung 
during the celebration of the Roman Catholic mass, at 
the elevation of the host, at the Sanctus, and at other 
solemn services. When rung at the consecration it is 
also called the Aqnus bell; at the time of the Sanctus, 
the Sanctus bell, etc. Also called saints' bell. Saints' 
belL Same as sacriny bell. The term is a corrupted form 
of Sanetus bell, but is no longer specifically restricted to 
the bell rung at the Sanctus. The saints' bell is now a 
small hand-bell rung within the church, but formerly it 
was sometimes a small church-bell suspended in a turret 
outside the church and rung by a rope from within. 
And it is said that his people would let their plough 
rest when George Herbert's saints'-bell rang to prayers. 
Walcott, Sacred Archaeology, p. 527. 
Sanctus bell. See elemtion bell. To bear away (or 
gain, etc.) the bell, to win the prize at a race. In for- 
mer times a bell was a usual prize at a horse-race. 
Here lyes the man whose horse did gaine 
The bell in race on Salisbury plain. 
Camden, Epitaphes. 
To bear the bell, to be the first or leader : in allusion 
to the bell-wether of a flock, or the leading horse of a 
team or drove, that wears a bell or bells on its collar. 
Lat se which of you shal bere the belle 
To speke of love. Chaucer, Troilus, iil. 198. 
In memory of the man but for whom had gone to wrack 
All that France saved from the fight whence England bore 
the bell. Browning, Herve Riel. 
To clamor bells*. See clamor. To lose the bell, t.. 
be worsted in contest. 
In single flght he lost the bell. 
Fairfax, tr. of Tasso, xvii. 09. 
To ring the bells backward. See backward. To 
ring the hallowed bell, to ring a bell consecrated by a 
priest, as was formerly done in the belief that its sound 
had virtue to disperse storms, drive away a pestilence or 
devils, and extinguish fire. To shake the bells t, to 
move, or give notice or alarm : in allusion to the bells on 
a falcon's neck, which when sounded alarmed its prey. 
Neither the king, nor he that loves him best, 
The proudest he that holds up Lancaster, 
Dares stir a wing, if Warwick shake his bells. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., 1. 1. 
To take one's bells, to take one's departure : from the 
custom in falconry of attaching bells to a hawk's leg be- 
fore letting it fly. 
If ever for the Spring you do but sigh, 
I take my bells. 
Dekker and Ford, Sun's Darling, lit. 2. 
bell 1 (bel), v. [< belli, n ,] I. intrans. To pro- 
duce bells ; be in bell : said of hops when the 
seed-vessels are forming. See belli, W-) 3 (d). 
Hops in the beginning of August bell. Mortoner. 
belladonna 
II. trans. 1. To put a bell on. 2. To swell 
or puff out into the shape of a bell. 
Devices for belling out dresses. Mrs. Jiiddfll. 
To bell the cat, to grapple or cope with an adversary of 
Krt'atly superior power : a phrase derived from a well- 
known fable, according to which the mice at one time re- 
solved to put a bell on the cat to warn them of its ap- 
proach ; but after the resolution was passed, on inquiry 
being made, "Who will undertake it?" none was found 
daring enough to do so. 
bell 2 (bel), v. [Early mod. E. also bel (dial, 
also beal), < ME. belle, < AS. bellan, roar, bellow, 
gruut, = OHG. bellan, MHG. G. bellen, bark, = 
Icel. bel/tt; bellow; perhaps connected, as the 
orig. verb (cf. D. bellen, ring, MLG. bellen, pro- 
claim loudly), with AS. belle, E. belli, q. v. Cf. 
bellow, a later form parallel to bell 2 , v., and 
see belk, belch, balk 2 , bolk, etc., a series of verbs 
of similar form, assumed to be ult. imitative. 
Hence prob. bull 1 .] I. intrans. If. To bellow; 
roar. 
As loud as belleth wind in hell. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1803. 
Specifically 2. To bellow like a deer in rut- 
ting-time. 
The wild buck bells from ferny brake. 
Scott, Marmion, iv. 15. 
Enjoining perfect silence, we crept from tree to tree with 
stealthy pace and occasionally sweeping the opposite 
brow of Haugerton with a deer glass to discover some of 
the numerous harts which were belling and calling. 
Forest and Stream, XXIV. 449. 
II. trans. To bellow forth. [Rare.] 
bell 2 (bel), n. [< bell 2 , v.~\ The bellow of the 
wild deer in rutting-time. 
In Ireland the deer-stalker has to put aside his rifle in 
October. The first bell of the hart is a notice for him to 
quit, so that these wild denizens of the woods may carry 
on their courting at their leisure. 
Forest and Stream, XXIV. 449. 
bell 3 t, '' ' [< ME. belten (pp. bollen), perhaps 
(with loss of orig. guttural) < AS. belgan (pp. 
bolgen) = OHG. belgan, MHG. belgen = Icel. 
"bflgja, in pp. bolginn, swell (in AS. and OHG. 
and MHG. also be angry). Cf. bell 2 and bel- 
loir, repr. parallel forms without and with an 
orig. guttural. See bolnl."} To swell up, like a 
boil or beal. 
Jesus . . . was pricked both with nail and thorn. It 
neither wealed nor belled, rankled nor boned. 
Pepys, Diary, III. 96. (N. E. D.) 
bell 4 (bel), n. [< late ME. belle = D. lei, a 
bubble; cf. OD. (MD.) bellen, bubble; origin 
uncertain, perhaps connected with E. bell 3 , or 
with L. bulltt, a bubble : see 6eH 3 .] A bubble 
formed in a liquid. 
Tile twinkling of a fin, the rising of an air-bell. 
Scott, Guy Mannering, xxvi. 
Certain qualities of coloured glass are cast by ladling 
the molten metal from huge pots. ... By this ladling 
numerous air bells are enclosed in the glass, but the cir- 
cumstance does not affect the durability and usefulness 
of the glass. Encyc. Brit., X. 663. 
bell 4 (bel), v. i. [< bell*, .] To bubble. 
[Scotch.] 
bell 5 t, a. [Early mod. E. also bel, < ME. bel, bele, 
< OF. (mod. F.) bel, beau, m., belle, f., = Sp. Pg. 
It. bello, < L. bellus, fair, beautiful, fine. This 
adj., the nearest representative of the L., ob- 
tained a hold in E. chiefly in its deriv. beauty 
(> beautiful, etc.), and some half-French uses: 
see bel 1 , belle, beau, etc.] Fair ; 'beautiful. 
bellacityt (be-las'i-ti), . [< L. as if "bellaci- 
ta(t-)s,<bellax (betlao), warlike, < bellum, war.] 
Tendency to war ; warlikeness. [Rare.] 
belladonna (bel-a-don'ii), n. [NL., < bella 
donna, lit. beautiful lady (the berries of the 
plant having been used by the Italian ladies as 
a cosmetic) : bella, fern, of bello, beautiful (see 
belle) ; donna, < L. domina, lady, fern, of domi- 
Belladonna (Atropa Belladonna], 
a, flowering branch, with fruit ; f', fruit, on larger scale. 
s, lord. Ult. a doublet of beldam, q. v.] A 
1 limit . Atropa Belladonna, or deadly nightshade, 
