hell
Part of speech: noun
intj
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English hel, hell, helle, hælle, from Old English hel, hell, from Proto-West Germanic *hallju, from Proto-Germanic *haljō (“hell, netherworld”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). First attested in c. 725.
Cognates
Cognate with Yola helle (“hell”), Saterland Frisian Hälle (“hell”), West Frisian hel (“hell”), Alemannic German Hell (“hell”), Cimbrian hélla (“hell”), Dutch hel (“hell”), German Hölle (“hell”), Limburgish hel, Héll, Höll (“hell”), Luxembourgish Häll (“hell”), Vilamovian heł, hełł (“hell”), Danish helvede (“hell”), ihjel (“to death”), Faroese helviti (“hell”), Icelandic hel (“death, hell”), helvíti (“hell”), Norwegian Nynorsk hel (“death, underworld”), helvete (“hell”), Swedish helvete (“hell”), ihjäl (“to death”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰 (halja, “hell”), Estonian koll (“bugbear”), Finnish koljo (“giant; evil spirit; devil”); also Cornish keles (“to conceal, hide”), Irish ceil (“to conceal, hide; to cover up”), Welsh celu (“to conceal, hide”), Faliscan 𐌂𐌄𐌋𐌀 (cela, “tomb”), Latin cella (“hut, storeroom; barn, granary”), Greek κολεός (koleós, “vagina; sheath; scabbard; coleus”), Lithuanian šalmas (“helmet”), Belarusian шало́м (šalóm, “helmet”), Bulgarian and Macedonian шлем (šlem, “helmet”), Old Polish szłom (“helmet”), Russian шело́м (šelóm), шлем (šlem, “helmet”), Serbo-Croatian шле̏м, шље̏м, šlȅm, šljȅm (“helmet”), Ukrainian шолом (šolom, “helmet”), Sanskrit शर्मन् (śarman, “safety, shelter; house; bliss, happiness, joy”).
Also related to the Hel of Germanic mythology. See also hele.
Inflected forms:
form: hells
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: Hell
pos: noun
tags: alternative
capitalized
form: Hell
pos: intj
tags: alternative
capitalized
form: hells
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: helling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: helled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: helled
pos: verb
tags: past
form: Hell
pos: verb
tags: alternative
capitalized
Senses:
gloss: A place or situation of great suffering in life.
pos: noun
tags: countable
excessive
figuratively
examples: My new boss is making my job a hell.
I went through hell to get home today.
callback hell; <table> hell; <div> hell
1879, General William T. Sherman, commencement address at the Michigan Military Academy
There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell.
Why, am I dying? / Kill, have no fear / Lie, live off lying / Hell, hell is here
So how do the scientists cope with their work being ignored for decades, and living in a world their findings indicate is on a “highway to hell”?.
gloss: A place for gambling.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: Here’s five-and-twenty for you. Don’t be losing it at the hells now.
a convenient little gambling hell for those who had grown reckless
There's light behind here—a hole through the wall. I believe the place is a regular swindling hell.
But there was also about him an indescribable air which no mechanic could have acquired in the practice of his handicraft however dishonestly exercised: […] the air of moral nihilism common to keepers of gambling hells and disorderly houses; […]
gloss: An extremely hot place.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
uncountable
examples: You don’t have a snowball's chance in hell.
when hell freezes over
gloss: Used as an intensifier in phrases grammatically requiring a noun.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: She's got her arms down to her side, defiant. But just for the hell of it, she leans into him, wraps her arms around his neck, puts her head on his shoulder, and hangs on tight.
I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.
What the hell is wrong with you?!
He says he’s going home early? Like hell he is.
gloss: A place into which a tailor throws shreds, or a printer discards broken type.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
examples: This sturdy Squire, he had, as well
As the bold Trojan Knight, seen Hell.
gloss: In certain games of chase, a place to which those who are caught are carried for detention.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Something extremely painful or harmful (to)
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
countable
uncountable
usually
with-on
examples: That steep staircase is hell on my knees.
gloss: Used to express discontent, unhappiness, or anger.
pos: intj
tags: colloquial
sometimes
vulgar
examples: Oh, hell! I got another parking ticket.
O hell! what have we here?
A carrion Death, within whose empty eye
There is a written scroll! […]
gloss: Used to emphasize.
pos: intj
tags: colloquial
idiomatic
sometimes
vulgar
examples: Hell yeah!
gloss: Used to introduce an intensified statement following an understated one; nay; not only that, but.
pos: intj
tags: colloquial
sometimes
vulgar
examples: Do it, or, rest assured, there will be no more Middle Eastern crisis – hell, there will be no more Middle East!
gloss: To make hellish; to place (someone) in hell; to make (a place) into a hell.
pos: verb
tags: colloquial
sometimes
vulgar
gloss: To hurry, rush.
pos: verb
tags: colloquial
sometimes
vulgar
examples: I had already lost thirteen points, all because she had to come helling in there at twelve, worrying me about that letter.
gloss: To move quickly and loudly; to raise hell as part of motion.
pos: verb
tags: colloquial
intransitive
sometimes
vulgar
examples: He was helling down the road with his radio blaring.
Related words: damn
heck
Derived words: all hell breaks loose
as all hell
as hell
bastard operator from hell
behell
bleeding hell
bloody hell
blooming hell
bullet hell
burn in hell
by hell
callback hell
catch hell
cat's chance in hell
chicken from hell
Chinaman's chance in hell
chuffing hell
come hell or high water
dammit all to hell
dammit to hell
damn you all to hell
dependency hell
development hell
DLL hell
Elo hell
for the hell of it
forty minutes of hell
fresh hell
fucking hell
gambling hell
gate of hell
give someone hell
go through hell
go to hell
go-to-hell
go to hell and back
Harrowing of Hell
harrowing of hell
harrying of hell
hella
hellacious
hellagood
hell and half of Georgia
hell and Tommy
hell around
Hell Aviv
hellban
hellbender
hell-bent
hell-bent-for-leather
hell-bent for leather
hellbilly
hellborn
hell-born
hellbound
hellbox
hellbrew
hell-brewed
hell bride
hellbroth
hellburner
hellcat
hell chicken
Hell Corner
helldesk
hell-diver
hellektro
hellfare
hellfire
hell-fire
Hellfire Club
hell-for-leather
hell for leather
hell from above
hell gate
hell has no fury like a woman scorned
hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
hell hole
hell-hole
hellhound
hell hound
hell-hound
hell house
hellhouse
hell if I care
hell if I know
hellify
hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works
hellish
hellkite
hell knows
hellman
hell mend someone
hell money
hellmouth
hell night
hell of a
hell on earth
hell on wheels
hell or high water
hell pig
hellproof
hell-raiser
hellraiser
hellraising
hell-rake
hell realm
hellride
hell-roaring
hellscape
hell's delight
hell ship
hellsite
Hell's Kitchen
hellsome
hellspawn
hell's teeth
hellstorm
hell strip
hellstrip
hell's yeah
hell's yes
hell to pay
hell to the naw
hell to the no
Helltown
Hellward
hellward
hellwards
hell week
hell west and crooked
helly
hizzle
holy hell
hot as hell
hot as the hobs of Hell
hot hell
hound of hell
how the hell
I'm going to hell for this
in hell
in the hell
Israhell
Israhelli
JAR hell
K-Hell
king-hell
laurel hell
like a bat out of hell
like hell
like hell you say
like merry hell
living hell
match made in hell
McHell
no hell
no screaming hell
not worth hell room
oh, hell
oh my hell
pave the road to hell
personal hell
play hell with
play merry hell with
production hell
raise hell
raise unshirted hell
rake-hell
rot in hell
Sam Hell
scare the hell out of
you in hell
silver hell
snowball in hell
snowball's chance in hell
snowflake's chance in hell
sodding hell
Solavellan Hell
swell hell
the hairy hell
the hell
the hell out of
the hell with it
the hell you say
the road to hell is paved with good intentions
to hell
to hell and back
to hell and gone
to hell in a handbasket
to hell in a handcart
to hell with
until hell freezes over
war is hell
welcome to hell
what the hell
when the hell
where the hell
who the hell
why the hell
hell no
hell's bells
hell yeah
hell yes
hells
hells yeah
oh hell
Translations:
lang: Albanian
word: drreqin
lang: Danish
word: helvede!
lang: Finnish
word: helvetti!
lang: French
word: merde
lang: German
word: zur Hölle!
lang: German
word: Himmel!
lang: German
word: Teufel!
lang: Hebrew
word: לעזאזל!
roman: la'azazél
lang: Icelandic
word: helvítis!
lang: Japanese
word: 畜生
roman: chikushō
lang: Japanese
word: 糞
roman: kuso
lang: Norwegian
word: helvete!
lang: Russian
word: чёрт
roman: čort
lang: Northern Sami
word: helvet!
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: murt
lang: Spanish
word: carajo!
lang: Spanish
word: mierda!
lang: Spanish
word: diablos!
lang: Spanish
word: joder!
lang: Swedish
word: helvete!