dinner belln.
/ˈdɪnə bɛl/, U.S. /ˈdɪnər ˌbɛl/ The bell rung to announce that dinner is ready to be served; spec. one rung at a fixed time in a school or other institution. Also: a particular bell used for this purpose.Compare also monkey's dinner bell n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > meal-time > [noun] > summons to meal
dinner bella1635
kale-bell1776
dinner call1799
tea-bell1836
breakfast-bell1842
warning bell1849
soupy1899
warning gong1938
a1635 R. Corbet Iter Boreale in Certain Elegant Poems (1647) 28 Know when Tom rings out his knells, The best of you will be but dinner bells.
1682 N. O. tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin iv. 206 For all Agree, no Knell Could more concern them than the Dinner-bell!
1783 Philos. Trans. 1782 (Royal Soc.) 72 376 Close to the chimney..a dinner-bell hung in a common frame.
1887 Spectator 26 Feb. 287/2 The dinner-bell would begin to ring at half-past 5.
1952 ‘N. Shute’ Far Country 18 She went and rang the dinner bell outside the flyscreen door.
2009 S. Khorsandi Beginner's Guide to acting Eng. ii. 113 Baba arrived at the school just as the dinner bell went.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
<
n.a1635