hell

«hell» in Mova's school dictionary: In some religions, a place where bad people are believed… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (uncountable; also interjection — rude)

meaning for a pupil

1) In some religions, a place where bad people are believed to go after death to be punished. tree →

2) A very unpleasant place or experience. tree →

3) (rude, mild swearing) Said to show anger, surprise or emphasis: "What the hell?", "hell of a". tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories and religious education, hell is the opposite of heaven. In real speech it is a mild swear word, not allowed in polite talk or school writing. Phrases: (rude) bloody hell, what the hell, a hell of a, go to hell (very rude), like hell.

examples

• In the story, the devil lived in hell. tree →
• The traffic jam was hell. tree →
• (rude) What the hell is that noise? tree →
• (rude) Bloody hell, that was close! tree →
• (rude) We had a hell of a time getting home. tree →
• The long walk in the heat was hell. tree →

note

As a swear word it adds feeling, not facts: "a hell of a lot" just means "very many". "Go to hell" is very rude. Capital H is sometimes used in religious writing.

In the corpora

• "The other place" (old-fashioned, UK) means hell.
• "Down below" (old-fashioned) means hell.
• "Heck" is a mild word used instead of "hell", as in "What the heck?"
• Many Christians believe God will judge everyone fairly and with mercy; beliefs about hell differ widely and are disputed.
• "Bloody hell, I'm dead," he mutters, meaning he's in big trouble.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «hell» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.