hell

noun, intj, adv and 1 more — 17 senses

hell

noun

/hɛl/

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.

7 senses
  1. 1A place or situation of great suffering in life.
  2. 2A place for gambling.
  3. 3An extremely hot place.
  4. 4Used as an intensifier in phrases grammatically requiring a noun.
  5. 5A place into which a tailor throws shreds, or a printer…
  6. 6In certain games of chase, a place to which those who…
  7. 7Something extremely painful or harmful (to)
1

Excessive, Figuratively A place or situation of great suffering in life.

  • My new boss is making my job a hell.
  • I went through hell to get home today.
4 more examples
  • 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 here1986, “Disposable Heroes”, in Metallica (music), Master of Puppets:
  • 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”?.2024 May 8, Damian Carrington, “‘Hopeless and broken’: why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair. World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target”, in The Guardian, UK:
2

A place for gambling.

  • Here’s five-and-twenty for you. Don’t be losing it at the hells now.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 61, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
  • a convenient little gambling hell for those who had grown reckless1877, William Black, Green Pastures and Piccadilly:
2 more examples
  • There's light behind here—a hole through the wall. I believe the place is a regular swindling hell.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
  • 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; […]1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, London: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1907, →OCLC, page 15:
3

Figuratively An extremely hot place.

  • You don’t have a snowball's chance in hell.
  • when hell freezes over
4

Used as an intensifier in phrases grammatically requiring a noun.

  • 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.1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 321:
  • I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.
2 more examples
  • What the hell is wrong with you?!
  • He says he’s going home early? Like hell he is.
5

Obsolete A place into which a tailor throws shreds, or a printer discards broken type.

  • This sturdy Squire, he had, as well As the bold Trojan Knight, seen Hell.1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:
6

In certain games of chase, a place to which those who are caught are carried for detention.

7

Colloquial, Usually, With on Something extremely painful or harmful (to)

  • That steep staircase is hell on my knees.
Derived terms
206 termsall 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, hell-born, hellborn, hellbound, hellbox, hellbrew, hell-brewed, hell bride, hellbroth, hellburner, hellcat, hell chicken, Hell Corner, helldesk, hell-diver, hellektro, hellfare, hellfire, hell-fire, hell fire bean, 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, hellhouse, hell house, 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 no, hell of a, hell on earth, hell on wheels, hell or high water, hell pig, hellproof, hellraiser, hell-raiser, hellraising, hell-rake, hell realm, hellride, hell-roaring, hell's bells, 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, hell yeah, hell yes, 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, in the seven hells, 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, seven hells out of, 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

intj
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.

1

Colloquial, Sometimes, Vulgar Used to express discontent, unhappiness, or anger.

  • 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! […]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] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]:
2

Colloquial, Idiomatic, Sometimes, Vulgar Used to emphasize.

  • Hell yeah!
3

Colloquial, Sometimes, Vulgar Used to introduce an intensified statement following an understated one; nay; not only that, but.

  • Do it, or, rest assured, there will be no more Middle Eastern crisis – hell, there will be no more Middle East!
Derived terms
hell's bells, hell no, hells, hell yes, hell yeah, hells yeah, oh hell
Related terms
damn, heck

hell

adv
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.

1

Alternative, Colloquial, Postpositional, Sometimes, Vulgar Alternative form of the hell or like hell.

  • - Oh, aren't they sweet?1990, Mama's Family (television sitcom), "Look Who's Breathing" (season 6, episode 18)
  • ‘[…] I know whether a boy is telling me the truth or not.’ ‘Thank you, sir.’ Did he hell. They never bloody did.1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section II, page 24:
2

Australia, New Zealand, Colloquial, Sometimes, Vulgar Very; used to emphasize strongly.

  • That was hell good!
  • They're hell sexy.

hell

verb
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.

1

Colloquial, Sometimes, Vulgar To make hellish; to place (someone) in hell; to make (a place) into a hell.

2

Colloquial, Sometimes, Vulgar To hurry, rush.

  • I had already lost thirteen points, all because she had to come helling in there at twelve, worrying me about that letter.1929, William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury:
3

Colloquial, Sometimes, Vulgar To move quickly and loudly; to raise hell as part of motion.

  • He was helling down the road with his radio blaring.

hell

verb

Etymology From German hellen (“to brighten, burnish”). Related to Dutch hel (“clear, bright”) and German hell (“clear, bright”).

1

Colloquial, Rare, Sometimes, Vulgar To add luster to; to burnish (silver or gold).

  • To hell gold or gilt workː take two ounces of tartar, two ounces of sulfur.. and it will give it a fine luster.1770, Godfrey Smith, The Laboratory: Or, School of Arts:

hell

verb

Etymology From Middle English hellen, from Old Norse hella (“to pour”), from Proto-Germanic *halþijaną (“to incline, tip; to pour out, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to lean, incline”). Cognate with Icelandic hella (“to pour”), Norwegian helle (“to pour”), Swedish hälla (“to pour”). See also English hield.

1

Colloquial, Rare, Sometimes, Vulgar To pour.

  • 18th century, Josiah Relph, The Harvest; or Bashful Shepherd Gosh, the sickle went into me handː Down hell'd the bluid.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.