mourning peal

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableliteraryformal

   The slow, repeated ringing of a church bell or set of bells to mark a death or a funeral.

   Grammar: Countable: say 'a mourning peal' or 'mourning peals'; the plural is used when several sets of bells ring or when the ringing happens more than once.

   Patterns

   • a mourning peal for someone
   • the mourning peal of the bells
   • ring out a mourning peal

   A mourning peal rang out from the village church the morning after the old teacher died.

   The bells fell silent, and then a single mourning peal began, slow and heavy.

   In the poem, the sound of a mourning peal drifts across the empty fields.

2. 2nouncountableliteraryfigurative

   A loud, ringing sound that seems to express deep sadness or grief.

   Grammar: Used figuratively, usually with 'of': a mourning peal of something such as laughter, thunder or voices.

   Patterns

   • a mourning peal of something

   Her voice rose in a mourning peal of grief that silenced the room.

   The organ ended with a mourning peal of notes that hung in the air.

Word forms

Common combinations

ring out a mourning peal

At noon the tower rang out a mourning peal for the sailors lost at sea.

a mourning peal for someone

They arranged a mourning peal for their father at the church he had attended for years.

a slow mourning peal

A slow mourning peal followed the coffin as it was carried inside.

the mourning peal of the bells

We stood still until the mourning peal of the bells finally stopped.

a mourning peal sounded

A mourning peal sounded across the town at the exact hour of the funeral.

Synonyms and how they differ

death knell

A death knell is the single stroke or sound announcing a death, while a mourning peal is a longer, repeated ringing that expresses sorrow.

toll

A toll is one slow stroke of a bell; a mourning peal is the whole series of such rings.

dirge

A dirge is a sad piece of music or song for the dead, not the ringing of bells.

Opposites

Word family

mourn verb

to feel or show deep sadness after someone dies

mournful adjective

sad and full of sorrow, often describing sounds or looks

mourning noun

the period or the act of showing grief after a death

peal noun

a loud, repeated ringing of bells or a long burst of thunder or laughter

Commonly confused: mourning peal or morning peal? mourning peal or peel?

Practice

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