ring a bell meaning (informal): definition, quotations

ring a bell

verb

Idiomatic, Informal To seem at least vaguely familiar.

His face rings a bell. I wonder if I know him from somewhere.
Our boy tells me Fring took him there to visit one of the patients, someone Pinkman says you'll definitely remember — Tio Salamanca. Old guy in a wheelchair? Uh... doesn't talk, rings a bell. Huh — I mean, does that ring a bell? I mean, the guy actually has to ring a bell.2011, Vince Gilligan, “Face Off”, in Breaking Bad, season 4, episode 13 (television production), spoken by Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk):

Idiomatic, Informal To spark a previously forgotten memory.

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see ring, a, bell.