division bell

noun

A bell rung in or around a parliament to signal a division (vote) to members of the relevant chamber so that they may take part.

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Meanings

noundivision bell (plural division bells)

plural division bells

  1. CommonwealthA bell rung in or around a parliament to signal a division (vote) to members of the relevant chamber so that they may take part.

    The division bell was still ringing; peers and diplomatists and strangers were turned out; members came rushing in from library and smoking-room; some desperate cabs just arrived in time to land their passengers in the waiting-room.

    1845, Benjamin Disraeli, “Chapter 3”, in Sybil, or The Two Nations, Book 4
Cite this entry
APA

division bell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/division%20bell

MLA

“division bell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/division%20bell. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “division bell,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/division%20bell.

Source: division bell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.