English Dictionary

Definition of “peal”

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^¹peal¹ (piːl)

Definitions

noun

a loud prolonged usually reverberating sound, as of bells, thunder, or laughter
bell-ringing a series of changes rung in accordance with specific rules, consisting of not fewer than 5000 permutations in a ring of eight bells
(not in technical usage) the set of bells in a belfry

verb

(intr) to sound with a peal or peals
(tr) to give forth loudly and sonorously
(tr) to ring (bells) in peals

Word Origin

C14 pele, variant of apeleappeal

Synonyms

View thesaurus entry

= ring, sound, toll, resound, chime, resonate, tintinnabulate

= crash, roll, crack, roar, rumble, reverberate,

= ring, sound, ringing, clamour, chime, clang, carillon, tintinnabulation,

= clap, sound, crash, blast, roar, rumble, resounding, reverberation,

= roar, fit, shout, scream, gale, howl, shriek, hoot,

^²peal² (piːl)

Definitions

noun

a dialect name for a grilse or a young sea trout

Usage examples

With each peal the bulb's light was becoming more revelatory.
Clive Barker, THE HELLBOUND HEART (2001)
A single `` peal ' by the bellringers involves a minimum of 5000 changes, which means every bellringer pulls a rope 5000 times.
The Advertiser, Sunday Mail (2004)
However, as Mrs Nichols stood queueing for her tripe, from outside there came a blinding flash and a peal of thunder.
Times, Sunday Times (2001)
There was a thundering peal of applause and the play was allowed to continue.
Paula Byrne, PERDITA: The Life of Mary Robinson (2004)

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