bell-pull

A rope that rings a bell.

Noun

  1. A rope that rings a bell.
  2. A handle attached to a rope that rings a bell.
    • While she was doing this the wood partition in the centre of the house thrilled to its centre with the tugging of a bell-pull upstairs. A bell below tinkled a note that was feebler in sound than the twanging of wires...
    • Jessamy tugged the scrolled iron bell-pull which hung down on one side of the gate. Somewhere behind, she could hear an answering jangle. - 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993,...
  3. The tail of a fox
    • The "bell-pull," as trophy, is kept to preserve, And the hounds eat the fox they so richly deserve. - 1863, Ned Farmer, Ned Farmer's Scrap Book, 3rd edition, page 91:

Origin

From bell + pull.

Forms

bell-pulls