chime
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The sound of such an instrument or device.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
chymIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʃaɪm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The sound of such an instrument or device.
music
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.
An individual ringing component of such a set.
A small bell or other ringing or tone-making device as a component of some other device.
A small hammer or other device used to strike a bell.
verb
Emit a sound
transitive
To cause to sound in harmony; to play a tune, as upon a set of bells; to move or strike in harmony.
To make a rude correspondence of sounds; to jingle, as in rhyming.
intransitive
To agree; to correspond.
transitive
To utter harmoniously; to recite rhythmically.
intransitive
To make the sound of a chime.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The sound of such an instrument or device.
Used this way, chime is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Break into a conversation.
A decorative arrangement of pieces of metal or glass or pottery that hang together loosely so the wind can cause them to tinkle.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: sound of such an instrument or device
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.