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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

unring a bell en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) To reverse the irreversible; to perform the impossible.
    • “We move for a mistrial based on the testimony this morning,” Blanche said. “There’s no way to unring that bell, in our view.” 2024 May 7, Victoria Bekiempis, quoting Todd Blanche, “Trump hush-money trial: Stormy Daniels describes being ‘startled’ by sexual encounter”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
    • "We can't unring any bells here. There's no point in trying to second-guess anyone right now. What's done is done." 2004, Fern Michaels, The Real Deal, page 413:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
unrings a bell Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
unrung a bell Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
unrang a bell Tense=Past lexicographic
unringing a bell Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Relateds

put the genie back in the bottle