WITH BELLS ON Definition & Meaning

with bells on

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Idioms and Phrases

Ready to celebrate, eagerly, as in Of course I'll come; I'll be there with bells on . This metaphoric expression alludes to decorating oneself or one's clothing with little bells for some special performance or occasion. A well-known nursery rhyme has: “See a fine lady upon a white horse, Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, And she shall have music wherever she goes” (in Gammer Gurton's Garland , 1784).

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Example Sentences

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A stage version of “9 to 5” landed in 2009 starring Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty and Allison Janney, and the 1993 Christmas special “Candles, Snow & Mistletoe” contained her song “With Bells On.”

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In general, I love the festive, frantic busyness of December — all those windblown and perennially overcommitted New Yorkers careening toward the holidays and the fresh calendar year waiting just beyond with bells on.

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“You’re exasperating! Yes, yes, if you die before me—and you won’t—I will come. I will be there with bells on.”

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Peach put his pillow on the end of Aunt Florentine’s bed, took a deep breath, and said, “I will be there with bells on.”

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He whispered across Mama to me, “I am here with bells on!”

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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with bells on

Idioms and Phrases

Example Sentences