Chime
noun, verb ·1 syllable ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A musical instrument producing a sound when struck, similar to a bell (e.g. a tubular metal bar) or actually a bell. Often used in the plural to refer to the set: the chimes.
"Hugo had a recording of someone playing the chimes against a background of surf noise that she found calming."
- 2 Alternative form of chine (“edge of a cask; part of a ship; etc.”). alt-of, alternative
"Let the chimes meet so that the chime of one cask shall not work into the head of the next."
- 3 a percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned bells that are struck with a hammer; used as an orchestral instrument wordnet
- 4 An individual ringing component of such a set.
"Peter removed the C♯ chime from its mounting so that he could get at the dust that had accumulated underneath."
- 5 A small bell or other ringing or tone-making device as a component of some other device.
"The professor had stuffed a wad of gum into the chime of his doorbell so that he wouldn't be bothered."
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- 6 The sound of such an instrument or device.
"The copier gave a chime to indicate that it had finished printing."
- 7 A small hammer or other device used to strike a bell.
"Strike the bell with the brass chime hanging on the chain next to it."
- 1 To make the sound of a chime. intransitive
"The microwave chimed to indicate that it was done cooking."
- 2 emit a sound wordnet
- 3 To cause to sound in harmony; to play a tune, as upon a set of bells; to move or strike in harmony. transitive
"And chime their sounding hammers."
- 4 To utter harmoniously; to recite rhythmically. transitive
"Chime his childish verse."
- 5 To agree; to correspond. intransitive
"The other lab's results chimed with mine, so I knew we were on the right track with the research."
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- 6 To make a rude correspondence of sounds; to jingle, as in rhyming.
"It shall not keep one settled pace of time, In the same tune it shall not always chime"
Example
More examples"About the same time as he entered the classroom and arrived at his seat, the chime to announce class rings across the school."
Etymology
From Middle English chime, chim, chimbe, chymbe, a shortening of chimbelle (misinterpreted as chymme-belle, chimbe-belle), from Old English ċimbala, ċimbal (“cymbal”), from Latin cymbalum.
Related phrases
More for "chime"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.