chime
/tʃaɪm/
chime noun: a musical instrument producing a sound when struck, similar to a bell (e.g. a tubular metal bar) or actually a bell. Often used in the plural to refer to the set: the chimes. Also the alternative form of chine.
Noun
chime (plural chimes)
- A musical instrument producing a sound when struck, similar to a bell (e.g. a tubular metal bar) or actually a bell. Often used in the plural to refer to the set: the chimes.
- Hugo had a recording of someone playing the chimes against a background of surf noise that she found calming.
- Sylvia was a chime player in the school orchestra.
- An individual ringing component of such a set.
- Peter removed the C♯ chime from its mounting so that he could get at the dust that had accumulated underneath.
- A small bell or other ringing or tone-making device as a component of some other device.
- The professor had stuffed a wad of gum into the chime of his doorbell so that he wouldn't be bothered.
- The sound of such an instrument or device.
- The copier gave a chime to indicate that it had finished printing.
- Chimes sing Sunday morn.
- A small hammer or other device used to strike a bell.
- Strike the bell with the brass chime hanging on the chain next to it.
Verb
chime (third-person singular simple present chimes, present participle chiming, simple past and past participle chimed)
- To make the sound of a chime.
- The microwave chimed to indicate that it was done cooking.
- I got up for lunch as soon as the wall clock began chiming noon.
- To cause to sound in harmony; to play a tune, as upon a set of bells; to move or strike in harmony.
- And chime their sounding hammers.1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
- To utter harmoniously; to recite rhythmically.
- Chime his childish verse.1809, Lord Byron, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers
- To agree; to correspond.
- The other lab's results chimed with mine, so I knew we were on the right track with the research.
- Everything chimed in with such a humor.1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], Tales of a Traveller, (please specify |part=1 to 4), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC
- To make a rude correspondence of sounds; to jingle, as in rhyming.
- It shall not keep one settled pace of time,
In the same tune it shall not always chimea. 1667, Abraham Cowley, Ode Upon Liberty
- It shall not keep one settled pace of time,
Also used as
chime is also the alternative form of chine.
chime meaning in Odia, Nepali and Vietnamese
chime in Odia
- ଚୀମ୍
chime in Nepali
- चीम गर्न, चिम् गर्न
chime in Vietnamese
- to make the sound of a chime
- rung, kêu
Examples of chime in a sentence
- We appreciate your input, so please don't hesitate to chime in with comments and questions.
- The tuned wind chimes sounded almost like they were playing a melody.
- My doorbell chime stopped working, and I had to re-pair it with the bell push.
Synonyms of chime
Forms of chime
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | chimes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | chimes |
| present participle | chiming |
| past participle | chimed |
| past | chimed |
Origin of chime
From Middle English chymbe, chyme, probably from Old Northern French chimbe (“cymbal”), a back-formation from chimble, cimble, from Latin cymbalum; perhaps reinforced by a misinterpretation of a Middle English *chymbele (from Old English ċimbala, ċimbal (“cymbal”)) as chymbe belle.
Words formed from chime
Phrases with chime
Words that rhyme with chime
31 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about chime
- What does chime mean?
- Chime means a musical instrument producing a sound when struck, similar to a bell (e.g. a tubular metal bar) or actually a bell. Often used in the plural to refer to the set: the chimes.
- What is chime in Odia?
- Chime in Odia is ଚୀମ୍. See Chime meaning in Odia.
- What part of speech is chime?
- Chime can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce chime?
- Chime is pronounced /tʃaɪm/ (UK).
- What is the plural of chime?
- The plural of chime is chimes.
Words near chime in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chime (page history and authors); chime (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); chime (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-chime.wav.
Cite this entry: “chime.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chime. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.