Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A bell tower, especially one attached to a building.
- noun The part of a tower or steeple in which bells are hung.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A movable wooden tower used in the middle ages in attacking fortified places.
- noun A stationary tower near a fortified place, in which were stationed sentinels to watch the surrounding country and give notice of the approach of an enemy.
- noun A bell-tower, generally attached to a church or other building, but sometimes standing apart as an independent structure.
- noun That part of a steeple or other structure in which a bell is hung; particularly, the frame of timberwork which sustains the bell. See cut under
bell-gable . - noun Nautical, the ornamental frame in which the ship's bell is hung.
- noun A shed used as a shelter for cattle or for farm implements or produce.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Mil. Antiq.) A movable tower erected by besiegers for purposes of attack and defense.
- noun A bell tower, usually attached to a church or other building, but sometimes separate; a campanile.
- noun A room in a tower in which a bell is or may be hung; or a cupola or turret for the same purpose.
- noun (Naut.) The framing on which a bell is suspended.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete A moveable
tower used insieges . - noun dialectal A
shed . - noun obsolete An alarm-tower; a
watchtower containing an alarm-bell. - noun architecture A tower or steeple specifically for containing bells, especially as part of a church.
- noun architecture A part of a large tower or steeple, specifically for containing bells.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a room (often at the top of a tower) where bells are hung
- noun a bell tower; usually stands alone unattached to a building
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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However, every turret and belfry is covered with soldiers, and the streets are blocked up with troops and trenches.
Life in Mexico, During a Residence of Two Years in That Country Frances Erskine Inglis 1843
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The ringing-floor is on the next stage, and the belfry is the floor above.
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When she called a shepherd from his flocks in the green valley to build for her a bell-tower so that she might hear, night and morning, the call to the altar, the shepherd built for her in such fashion that the belfry has been the Pharos of Art for five centuries.
Wisdom, Wit, and Pathos of Ouida Selected from the Works of Ouida 1839-1908 Ouida 1873
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By the same ordinance the municipal administration of Laon was put under the sole authority of the king and his delegates; and to blot out all remembrance of the olden independence of the commune, a later ordinance forbade that the tower from which the two huge communal bells had been removed should thenceforth be called belfry-tower.
A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 2 1830
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To adhere to the sub - ject of cupolas, although the want of a belfry, which is an
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The furry flying rodents weren't confined to the "belfry", butare soaring freely throughout the building.
O'Reilly Doesn't Give a Bat's Ass About Walter Reed Scandal 2007
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Under the willow shade, and from one of the branches, I had hung a miniature "belfry," containing a tiny brass bell, and had led the string into the water, letting it go down to a considerable depth.
The Junior Classics — Volume 8 Animal and Nature Stories William Patten 1902
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Every town in Belgium has its "belfry," a tower rising over some venerable building, from which, in the days of almost constant warfare, a beacon used to blaze, or a bell ring out, to call the citizens to arms.
Peeps At Many Lands: Belgium Am��d��e Forestier 1887
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There is an odd kind of belfry at the peak of one of the gables, with the small bell still hanging in it.
Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 2 Great Britain and Ireland, Part 2 Various 1885
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These small gates were opened every morning at seven o'clock on the ringing of the fort bell, which was suspended from a kind of belfry in the centre of the yard.
Some Reminiscences of old Victoria Edgar Fawcett 1885
slumry commented on the word belfry
bats in his belfry
June 18, 2007
katieclove commented on the word belfry
forty winking in the belfry
August 14, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word belfry
In castles, a siege tower; wooden tower mounted on wheels or rollers, often covered with wet hides as protection against fire. Many had drop-bridges at the top so that attackers could fight their way across onto the castle towers or wall walks.
August 24, 2008