bell | noun (n.) A hollow metallic vessel, usually shaped somewhat like a cup with a flaring mouth, containing a clapper or tongue, and giving forth a ringing sound on being struck. |
| noun (n.) A hollow perforated sphere of metal containing a loose ball which causes it to sound when moved. |
| noun (n.) Anything in the form of a bell, as the cup or corol of a flower. |
| noun (n.) That part of the capital of a column included between the abacus and neck molding; also used for the naked core of nearly cylindrical shape, assumed to exist within the leafage of a capital. |
| noun (n.) The strikes of the bell which mark the time; or the time so designated. |
| verb (v. t.) To put a bell upon; as, to bell the cat. |
| verb (v. t.) To make bell-mouthed; as, to bell a tube. |
| verb (v. i.) To develop bells or corollas; to take the form of a bell; to blossom; as, hops bell. |
| verb (v. t.) To utter by bellowing. |
| verb (v. i.) To call or bellow, as the deer in rutting time; to make a bellowing sound; to roar. |
fell | noun (n.) A skin or hide of a beast with the wool or hair on; a pelt; -- used chiefly in composition, as woolfell. |
| noun (n.) A barren or rocky hill. |
| noun (n.) A wild field; a moor. |
| noun (n.) The finer portions of ore which go through the meshes, when the ore is sorted by sifting. |
| noun (n.) A form of seam joining two pieces of cloth, the edges being folded together and the stitches taken through both thicknesses. |
| noun (n.) The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft. |
| adjective (a.) Cruel; barbarous; inhuman; fierce; savage; ravenous. |
| adjective (a.) Eager; earnest; intent. |
| adjective (a.) Gall; anger; melancholy. |
| verb (v. i.) To cause to fall; to prostrate; to bring down or to the ground; to cut down. |
| verb (v. t.) To sew or hem; -- said of seams. |
| (imp.) of Fall |
| () imp. of Fall. |
sell | noun (n.) Self. |
| noun (n.) A sill. |
| noun (n.) A cell; a house. |
| noun (n.) A saddle for a horse. |
| noun (n.) A throne or lofty seat. |
| noun (n.) An imposition; a cheat; a hoax. |
| verb (v. t.) To transfer to another for an equivalent; to give up for a valuable consideration; to dispose of in return for something, especially for money. |
| verb (v. t.) To make a matter of bargain and sale of; to accept a price or reward for, as for a breach of duty, trust, or the like; to betray. |
| verb (v. t.) To impose upon; to trick; to deceive; to make a fool of; to cheat. |
| verb (v. i.) To practice selling commodities. |
| verb (v. i.) To be sold; as, corn sells at a good price. |
shell | noun (n.) A hard outside covering, as of a fruit or an animal. |
| noun (n.) The covering, or outside part, of a nut; as, a hazelnut shell. |
| noun (n.) A pod. |
| noun (n.) The hard covering of an egg. |
| noun (n.) The hard calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates. In some mollusks, as the cuttlefishes, it is internal, or concealed by the mantle. Also, the hard covering of some vertebrates, as the armadillo, the tortoise, and the like. |
| noun (n.) Hence, by extension, any mollusks having such a covering. |
| noun (n.) A hollow projectile, of various shapes, adapted for a mortar or a cannon, and containing an explosive substance, ignited with a fuse or by percussion, by means of which the projectile is burst and its fragments scattered. See Bomb. |
| noun (n.) The case which holds the powder, or charge of powder and shot, used with breechloading small arms. |
| noun (n.) Any slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in; as, the shell of a house. |
| noun (n.) A coarse kind of coffin; also, a thin interior coffin inclosed in a more substantial one. |
| noun (n.) An instrument of music, as a lyre, -- the first lyre having been made, it is said, by drawing strings over a tortoise shell. |
| noun (n.) An engraved copper roller used in print works. |
| noun (n.) The husks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is often used as a substitute for chocolate, cocoa, etc. |
| noun (n.) The outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve. |
| noun (n.) A light boat the frame of which is covered with thin wood or with paper; as, a racing shell. |
| noun (n.) Something similar in form or action to an ordnance shell; |
| noun (n.) A case or cartridge containing a charge of explosive material, which bursts after having been thrown high into the air. It is often elevated through the agency of a larger firework in which it is contained. |
| noun (n.) A torpedo. |
| noun (n.) A concave rough cast-iron tool in which a convex lens is ground to shape. |
| noun (n.) A gouge bit or shell bit. |
| verb (v. t.) To strip or break off the shell of; to take out of the shell, pod, etc.; as, to shell nuts or pease; to shell oysters. |
| verb (v. t.) To separate the kernels of (an ear of Indian corn, wheat, oats, etc.) from the cob, ear, or husk. |
| verb (v. t.) To throw shells or bombs upon or into; to bombard; as, to shell a town. |
| verb (v. i.) To fall off, as a shell, crust, etc. |
| verb (v. i.) To cast the shell, or exterior covering; to fall out of the pod or husk; as, nuts shell in falling. |
| verb (v. i.) To be disengaged from the ear or husk; as, wheat or rye shells in reaping. |
smell | noun (n.) To perceive by the olfactory nerves, or organs of smell; to have a sensation of, excited through the nasal organs when affected by the appropriate materials or qualities; to obtain the scent of; as, to smell a rose; to smell perfumes. |
| noun (n.) To detect or perceive, as if by the sense of smell; to scent out; -- often with out. |
| noun (n.) To give heed to. |
| verb (v. i.) To affect the olfactory nerves; to have an odor or scent; -- often followed by of; as, to smell of smoke, or of musk. |
| verb (v. i.) To have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savor; as, a report smells of calumny. |
| verb (v. i.) To exercise the sense of smell. |
| verb (v. i.) To exercise sagacity. |
| verb (v. t.) The sense or faculty by which certain qualities of bodies are perceived through the instrumentally of the olfactory nerves. See Sense. |
| verb (v. t.) The quality of any thing or substance, or emanation therefrom, which affects the olfactory organs; odor; scent; fragrance; perfume; as, the smell of mint. |
spell | noun (n.) A spelk, or splinter. |
| noun (n.) The relief of one person by another in any piece of work or watching; also, a turn at work which is carried on by one person or gang relieving another; as, a spell at the pumps; a spell at the masthead. |
| noun (n.) The time during which one person or gang works until relieved; hence, any relatively short period of time, whether a few hours, days, or weeks. |
| noun (n.) One of two or more persons or gangs who work by spells. |
| noun (n.) A gratuitous helping forward of another's work; as, a logging spell. |
| noun (n.) A story; a tale. |
| noun (n.) A stanza, verse, or phrase supposed to be endowed with magical power; an incantation; hence, any charm. |
| verb (v. t.) To supply the place of for a time; to take the turn of, at work; to relieve; as, to spell the helmsman. |
| verb (v. t.) To tell; to relate; to teach. |
| verb (v. t.) To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm. |
| verb (v. t.) To constitute; to measure. |
| verb (v. t.) To tell or name in their proper order letters of, as a word; to write or print in order the letters of, esp. the proper letters; to form, as words, by correct orthography. |
| verb (v. t.) To discover by characters or marks; to read with difficulty; -- usually with out; as, to spell out the sense of an author; to spell out a verse in the Bible. |
| verb (v. i.) To form words with letters, esp. with the proper letters, either orally or in writing. |
| verb (v. i.) To study by noting characters; to gain knowledge or learn the meaning of anything, by study. |
swell | noun (n.) The act of swelling. |
| noun (n.) Gradual increase. |
| noun (n.) Increase or augmentation in bulk; protuberance. |
| noun (n.) Increase in height; elevation; rise. |
| noun (n.) Increase of force, intensity, or volume of sound. |
| noun (n.) Increase of power in style, or of rhetorical force. |
| noun (n.) A gradual ascent, or rounded elevation, of land; as, an extensive plain abounding with little swells. |
| noun (n.) A wave, or billow; especially, a succession of large waves; the roll of the sea after a storm; as, a heavy swell sets into the harbor. |
| noun (n.) A gradual increase and decrease of the volume of sound; the crescendo and diminuendo combined; -- generally indicated by the sign. |
| noun (n.) A showy, dashing person; a dandy. |
| adjective (a.) Having the characteristics of a person of rank and importance; showy; dandified; distinguished; as, a swell person; a swell neighborhood. |
| verb (v. i.) To grow larger; to dilate or extend the exterior surface or dimensions, by matter added within, or by expansion of the inclosed substance; as, the legs swell in dropsy; a bruised part swells; a bladder swells by inflation. |
| verb (v. i.) To increase in size or extent by any addition; to increase in volume or force; as, a river swells, and overflows its banks; sounds swell or diminish. |
| verb (v. i.) To rise or be driven into waves or billows; to heave; as, in tempest, the ocean swells into waves. |
| verb (v. i.) To be puffed up or bloated; as, to swell with pride. |
| verb (v. i.) To be inflated; to belly; as, the sails swell. |
| verb (v. i.) To be turgid, bombastic, or extravagant; as, swelling words; a swelling style. |
| verb (v. i.) To protuberate; to bulge out; as, a cask swells in the middle. |
| verb (v. i.) To be elated; to rise arrogantly. |
| verb (v. i.) To grow upon the view; to become larger; to expand. |
| verb (v. i.) To become larger in amount; as, many little debts added, swell to a great amount. |
| verb (v. i.) To act in a pompous, ostentatious, or arrogant manner; to strut; to look big. |
| verb (v. t.) To increase the size, bulk, or dimensions of; to cause to rise, dilate, or increase; as, rains and dissolving snow swell the rivers in spring; immigration swells the population. |
| verb (v. t.) To aggravate; to heighten. |
| verb (v. t.) To raise to arrogance; to puff up; to inflate; as, to be swelled with pride or haughtiness. |
| verb (v. t.) To augment gradually in force or loudness, as the sound of a note. |
tell | noun (n.) That which is told; tale; account. |
| noun (n.) A hill or mound. |
| verb (v. t.) To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money. |
| verb (v. t.) To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate. |
| verb (v. t.) To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge. |
| verb (v. t.) To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform. |
| verb (v. t.) To order; to request; to command. |
| verb (v. t.) To discern so as to report; to ascertain by observing; to find out; to discover; as, I can not tell where one color ends and the other begins. |
| verb (v. t.) To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate. |
| verb (v. i.) To give an account; to make report. |
| verb (v. i.) To take effect; to produce a marked effect; as, every shot tells; every expression tells. |
well | adjective (a.) Good in condition or circumstances; desirable, either in a natural or moral sense; fortunate; convenient; advantageous; happy; as, it is well for the country that the crops did not fail; it is well that the mistake was discovered. |
| adjective (a.) Being in health; sound in body; not ailing, diseased, or sick; healthy; as, a well man; the patient is perfectly well. |
| adjective (a.) Being in favor; favored; fortunate. |
| adjective (a.) Safe; as, a chip warranted well at a certain day and place. |
| verb (v. i.) An issue of water from the earth; a spring; a fountain. |
| verb (v. i.) A pit or hole sunk into the earth to such a depth as to reach a supply of water, generally of a cylindrical form, and often walled with stone or bricks to prevent the earth from caving in. |
| verb (v. i.) A shaft made in the earth to obtain oil or brine. |
| verb (v. i.) Fig.: A source of supply; fountain; wellspring. |
| verb (v. i.) An inclosure in the middle of a vessel's hold, around the pumps, from the bottom to the lower deck, to preserve the pumps from damage and facilitate their inspection. |
| verb (v. i.) A compartment in the middle of the hold of a fishing vessel, made tight at the sides, but having holes perforated in the bottom to let in water for the preservation of fish alive while they are transported to market. |
| verb (v. i.) A vertical passage in the stern into which an auxiliary screw propeller may be drawn up out of water. |
| verb (v. i.) A depressed space in the after part of the deck; -- often called the cockpit. |
| verb (v. i.) A hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries. |
| verb (v. i.) An opening through the floors of a building, as for a staircase or an elevator; a wellhole. |
| verb (v. i.) The lower part of a furnace, into which the metal falls. |
| verb (v. i.) To issue forth, as water from the earth; to flow; to spring. |
| verb (v. t.) To pour forth, as from a well. |
| verb (v. t.) In a good or proper manner; justly; rightly; not ill or wickedly. |
| verb (v. t.) Suitably to one's condition, to the occasion, or to a proposed end or use; suitably; abundantly; fully; adequately; thoroughly. |
| verb (v. t.) Fully or about; -- used with numbers. |
| verb (v. t.) In such manner as is desirable; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favorably; advantageously; conveniently. |
| verb (v. t.) Considerably; not a little; far. |
range | noun (n.) To set in a row, or in rows; to place in a regular line or lines, or in ranks; to dispose in the proper order; to rank; as, to range soldiers in line. |
| noun (n.) To place (as a single individual) among others in a line, row, or order, as in the ranks of an army; -- usually, reflexively and figuratively, (in the sense) to espouse a cause, to join a party, etc. |
| noun (n.) To separate into parts; to sift. |
| noun (n.) To dispose in a classified or in systematic order; to arrange regularly; as, to range plants and animals in genera and species. |
| noun (n.) To rove over or through; as, to range the fields. |
| noun (n.) To sail or pass in a direction parallel to or near; as, to range the coast. |
| noun (n.) To be native to, or to live in; to frequent. |
| verb (v. i.) To rove at large; to wander without restraint or direction; to roam. |
| verb (v. i.) To have range; to change or differ within limits; to be capable of projecting, or to admit of being projected, especially as to horizontal distance; as, the temperature ranged through seventy degrees Fahrenheit; the gun ranges three miles; the shot ranged four miles. |
| verb (v. i.) To be placed in order; to be ranked; to admit of arrangement or classification; to rank. |
| verb (v. i.) To have a certain direction; to correspond in direction; to be or keep in a corresponding line; to trend or run; -- often followed by with; as, the front of a house ranges with the street; to range along the coast. |
| verb (v. i.) To be native to, or live in, a certain district or region; as, the peba ranges from Texas to Paraguay. |
| verb (v.) A series of things in a line; a row; a rank; as, a range of buildings; a range of mountains. |
| verb (v.) An aggregate of individuals in one rank or degree; an order; a class. |
| verb (v.) The step of a ladder; a rung. |
| verb (v.) A kitchen grate. |
| verb (v.) An extended cooking apparatus of cast iron, set in brickwork, and affording conveniences for various ways of cooking; also, a kind of cooking stove. |
| verb (v.) A bolting sieve to sift meal. |
| verb (v.) A wandering or roving; a going to and fro; an excursion; a ramble; an expedition. |
| verb (v.) That which may be ranged over; place or room for excursion; especially, a region of country in which cattle or sheep may wander and pasture. |
| verb (v.) Extent or space taken in by anything excursive; compass or extent of excursion; reach; scope; discursive power; as, the range of one's voice, or authority. |
| verb (v.) The region within which a plant or animal naturally lives. |
| verb (v.) The horizontal distance to which a shot or other projectile is carried. |
| verb (v.) Sometimes, less properly, the trajectory of a shot or projectile. |
| verb (v.) A place where shooting, as with cannons or rifles, is practiced. |
| verb (v.) In the public land system of the United States, a row or line of townships lying between two successive meridian lines six miles apart. |
| verb (v.) See Range of cable, below. |
ranger | noun (n.) One who ranges; a rover; sometimes, one who ranges for plunder; a roving robber. |
| noun (n.) That which separates or arranges; specifically, a sieve. |
| noun (n.) A dog that beats the ground in search of game. |
| noun (n.) One of a body of mounted troops, formerly armed with short muskets, who range over the country, and often fight on foot. |
| noun (n.) The keeper of a public park or forest; formerly, a sworn officer of a forest, appointed by the king's letters patent, whose business was to walk through the forest, recover beasts that had strayed beyond its limits, watch the deer, present trespasses to the next court held for the forest, etc. |
rank | noun (n. & v.) A row or line; a range; an order; a tier; as, a rank of osiers. |
| noun (n. & v.) A line of soldiers ranged side by side; -- opposed to file. See 1st File, 1 (a). |
| noun (n. & v.) Grade of official standing, as in the army, navy, or nobility; as, the rank of general; the rank of admiral. |
| noun (n. & v.) An aggregate of individuals classed together; a permanent social class; an order; a division; as, ranks and orders of men; the highest and the lowest ranks of men, or of other intelligent beings. |
| noun (n. & v.) Degree of dignity, eminence, or excellence; position in civil or social life; station; degree; grade; as, a writer of the first rank; a lawyer of high rank. |
| noun (n. & v.) Elevated grade or standing; high degree; high social position; distinction; eminence; as, a man of rank. |
| superlative (superl.) Luxuriant in growth; of vigorous growth; exuberant; grown to immoderate height; as, rank grass; rank weeds. |
| superlative (superl.) Raised to a high degree; violent; extreme; gross; utter; as, rank heresy. |
| superlative (superl.) Causing vigorous growth; producing luxuriantly; very rich and fertile; as, rank land. |
| superlative (superl.) Strong-scented; rancid; musty; as, oil of a rank smell; rank-smelling rue. |
| superlative (superl.) Strong to the taste. |
| superlative (superl.) Inflamed with venereal appetite. |
| adverb (adv.) Rankly; stoutly; violently. |
| verb (v. t.) To place abreast, or in a line. |
| verb (v. t.) To range in a particular class, order, or division; to class; also, to dispose methodically; to place in suitable classes or order; to classify. |
| verb (v. t.) To take rank of; to outrank. |
| verb (v. i.) To be ranged; to be set or disposed, as in a particular degree, class, order, or division. |
| verb (v. i.) To have a certain grade or degree of elevation in the orders of civil or military life; to have a certain degree of esteem or consideration; as, he ranks with the first class of poets; he ranks high in public estimation. |
ransom | noun (n.) The release of a captive, or of captured property, by payment of a consideration; redemption; as, prisoners hopeless of ransom. |
| noun (n.) The money or price paid for the redemption of a prisoner, or for goods captured by an enemy; payment for freedom from restraint, penalty, or forfeit. |
| noun (n.) A sum paid for the pardon of some great offense and the discharge of the offender; also, a fine paid in lieu of corporal punishment. |
| noun (n.) To redeem from captivity, servitude, punishment, or forfeit, by paying a price; to buy out of servitude or penalty; to rescue; to deliver; as, to ransom prisoners from an enemy. |
| noun (n.) To exact a ransom for, or a payment on. |