“hells” is a form of
hell
/hɛl/ proper noun, noun, interjection, adverb, verb
Also a form of Hel
Forms hells helling helled
- proper noun (in many religions, often capitalized) A place of torment where some or all sinners are believed to go after death and evil spirits are believed to be. “May you rot in hell!”
- noun (countable, hyperbolic, figuratively) A place or situation of great suffering in life. “My new boss is making my job a hell.”
- noun (countable) A place for gambling.
- noun (figuratively) An extremely hot place. “You don’t have a snowball's chance in hell.”
- noun (mildly vulgar) Used as an intensifier in phrases grammatically requiring a noun. “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”
- noun (obsolete) A place into which a tailor throws shreds, or a printer discards broken type.
- noun In certain games of chase, a place to which those who are caught are carried for detention.
- noun (colloquial, usually with on) Something extremely painful or harmful (to) “That steep staircase is hell on my knees.”
- interjection Used to express discontent, unhappiness, or anger. “Oh, hell! I got another parking ticket.”
- interjection (no longer productive) Used to emphasize. “Hell yeah!”
- interjection 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!”
- adverb (Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, sometimes vulgar) Very; used to emphasize strongly. “That was hell good!”
- verb To make hellish; to place (someone) in hell; to make (a place) into a hell.
- verb To hurry, rush.
- verb (intransitive) To move quickly and loudly; to raise hell as part of motion. “He was helling down the road with his radio blaring.”
- verb (rare, metal-working) To add luster to; to burnish (silver or gold).
- verb (rare) To pour.
- proper noun A village in Stjørdal municipality, Trøndelag, Norway; was the administrative center of Lånke municipality, which existed until 1962.
- proper noun A locality in West Bay, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.
- proper noun A ghost town in Riverside County, California, United States.
Synonyms
afterlife hella hell on earth hellhole snake pit the pits inferno blaze perdition infernal region nether region pit Hades netherworld Scheol underworld sin
Antonyms
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.
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.
From German hellen (“to brighten, burnish”). Related to Dutch hel (“clear, bright”) and German hell (“clear, bright”).
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The place of the dead, or of souls after death; the grave; --called in Hebrew sheol, and by the Greeks hades.
- noun The place or state of punishment for the wicked after death; the abode of evil spirits. Hence, any mental torment; anguish. "Within him hell." Milton.
- verb To overwhelm. [Obs.] Spenser.
Etymology [AS. hell; akin to D. hel, OHG. hella, G. hölle, Icel. hal, Sw. helfvete, Dan. helvede, Goth. halja, and to AS. helan to conceal. Hele, v. t., Conceal, Cell, Helmet, Hole, Occult.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “hell”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details