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chime 1 (chīm)
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n.
1. An apparatus for striking a bell or set of bells to produce a musical sound.
2. often chimes Music A set of tuned bells used as an orchestral instrument.
3. A single bell, as in the mechanism of a clock.
4. The sound produced by or as if by a bell or bells.
5. Agreement; accord: a flawless chime of romance and reality.
v. chimed, chim·ing, chimes
v.intr.
1.
a. To sound with a harmonious ring when struck.
b. To make a musical sound by striking a bell or set of bells.
2. To be in agreement or accord: harmonize: Their views chimed with ours. The seafood and wine chimed perfectly.
v.tr.
1. To produce (music) by striking bells.
2. To strike (a bell) to produce music.
3.
a. To signal or make known by chiming: The clock chimed noon.
b. To call, send, or welcome by chiming.
4. To repeat insistently.
Phrasal Verb:
chime in
1. To interrupt the speech of others, especially with an unwanted opinion.
2. To join in harmoniously.
3. To go together harmoniously; agree.

[From Middle English chimbe (belle), from Old French, variant of cimble, cymbal, from Latin cymbalum; see CYMBAL.]

chimer n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
chime 2 (chīm)
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n.
The rim of a cask.

[Middle English chimb, from Old English cim-, cimb- (in cimstānas, bases of a pillar, and cimbing, jointing); see gembh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.