belfry
part of speech
noun (a belfry, belfries)
meaning for a pupil
1) The tower, or the room at the top of a tower, where church bells hang. tree →
2) (idiom) Have bats in the belfry: to be a bit crazy or odd (old-fashioned, jokey). tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories about old churches and castles a belfry is where bats and owls live and where bell-ringers climb. In history it shows how bells told villagers the time and warned of danger. Phrases: up in the belfry, bats in the belfry.
examples
- Bats lived up in the belfry of the old church. tree →
- The bell-ringers climbed the steep stairs to the belfry. tree →
- The bells in the belfry rang out at noon. tree →
- (old-fashioned) "He's got bats in the belfry," said Grandad. tree →
- We could see the belfry from the village green. tree →
- Pigeons nested in the belfry. tree →
- As soon as the boy reached the belfry, and turned himself round to seize the rope, he saw upon the stairs, near the sounding-hole, a white figure. tree →
note
Countable: belfries (y to ies). It is not related to the word "bell" in origin, though belfries hold bells. "Bats in the belfry" is a jokey and slightly unkind phrase.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «belfry» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.