hell's bells


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hell's bells

An exclamation of frustration or surprise. A shortened form of the phrase "hell's bells and buckets of blood." Oh, hell's bells—the printer isn't working, and my paper is due in five minutes!
See also: bell
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

Hell's bells (and buckets of blood)!

Inf. an exclamation of anger or surprise. (Use caution with hell.) Alice: Your pants are torn in back. John: Oh, hell's bells! What will happen next? Bill: Well, Jane, looks like you just flunked calculus. Jane: Hell's bells and buckets of blood! What do I do now?
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Hell’s bells !

verb
See Hell’s bells and buckets of blood!
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

hell's bells

An interjection or mild expletive expressing surprise or annoyance. Dating from the first half of the nineteenth century, this expression undoubtedly owes its longevity to its rhyme. John Dos Passos used it in Manhattan Transfer (1925), “But hell’s bells, what’s the use when this goddam war takes the whole front page?”
See also: bell
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
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References in periodicals archive ?
He witnessed the aftermath of the bombing as he hitchhiked home from leave, saying: "I went through Coventry and saw what had happened, and thought 'hell's bells, this is going to be an air war.'" ."
New exhibition on the restoration of city cathedrals
If music makes you feel good then that's all that really matters, and hell's bells Gary Barlow et al can write a singalong like no other.
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HELL'S BELLS Star throws his weights about during workout.
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I can promise you that, like the subhead for this month's entry, every column will start with a quotation of lyrics from some song or another (nothing new here--after all, three of my first columns for the magazine were titled "Hell's Bells," "We Can't Rewind, We've Gone Too Far," and "Across the Universe").
The Dawning of a New Era in CRM (Magazine): 'Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome... fremde, etranger, stranger!'
Hell's bells, how can we even pretend it's about owt else when the freakin' photos they use are called 'selfies.'.
The rise of the narcissist
Evans ended the post with a cheery, "Hell's bells! No wonder I'm so knackered!!!!
Evans guided Bach Festival to new heights
Well, hell's bells, I not only hit the target but shot some pretty good groups.
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Furth 5.30pm THE rousing rendition of AC/DC's Hell's Bells which will accompany St Pauli and Greuther Furth onto the pitch at the Millerntor should inspire these heavyweights in today's key Bundesliga 2 clash, writes Steve Davies.
Furth can keep fine run going; Football
You look in the mirror and, hell's bells, there she is staring right back at you.
The Mother's Day gift that keeps on giving
Ghouls' first example of this is the primal Hell's Bells.
Weirdly beautiful works; 31 MUSIC SCENE with IAN LLOYD HUGHES / music@dailypost.co.uk REVIEW
** MAXWELL, VC, Lt Joe Hell's Bells & Mademoiselles HarperCollins, 2012 271 pp $24.99 ISBN 9780732296650
Maxwell, VC, Lt Joe: Hell's Bells & Mademoiselles
JOHN CONNOLLY Hell's Bells: Samuel Johnston v The Devil Round II (Hodder & Stoughton, pounds 12.9) THIS chatty book at times sounds like a favourite lively science teacher or Stephen Fry with a vast otherworldly knowledge of demons.
GOOD READS
HELL'S BELLS: SAMUEL JOHNSTON V THE DEVIL ROUND II BY JOHN CONNOLLY (Hodder & Stoughton, pounds 12.9) THIS fabulously chatty book at times sounds like a favourite lively science teacher or Stephen Fry with a vast other-worldly knowledge of demons.
books
? Hell's Bells: Samuel Johnston V The Devil Round II by John Connolly (Hodder & Stoughton, pounds 12.9): Teen hero Samuel is sucked into hell by innocuously-named Mrs Abernathy, a demon in human form, trying to win back her favourite spot next to the Devil.
New to buy
HELL'S bells - as AC/DC would say - what a weekend at Download!
AC/DC produce best ever Download set; Angus and co a class apart
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