peals

Noun (1)

peal (plural peals)

1. A loud sound, or a succession of loud sounds, as of bells, thunder, cannon, shouts, laughter, of a multitude, etc.
   • Whether thoſe peales of praiſe be his or no.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
2. (collective) A set of bells tuned to each other according to the diatonic scale.
   • Ingulphus, the chronicler of Croyland Abbey, mentions that a peal of seven bells was put up there in the tenth century, and that there was not such a harmonious peal in the whole of England; which implies that rings of bells were then common.1908, H. B. Walters, chapter 1, in Church Bells
3. The changes rung on a set of bells; in the strict sense a full peal of at least 5040 changes.

Noun (2)

peal (plural peals)

1. A small salmon; a grilse; a sewin.

See all 10 meanings of peal