What does chime mean?
Chime refers to the clear, resonant sound of a bell or of a set of tuned bars struck together, and by extension to the devices that produce such sounds — door chimes, clock chimes, wind chimes. As a verb, it means to ring in this way, often announcing the hour, as when a church clock chimes midnight. A second verbal use, most frequent in British English, describes ideas that agree: if one account 'chimes with' another, the two are in harmony, echoing the way separate bells blend into a pleasing chord. The word also appears in the idioms 'chime in', meaning to interrupt or join a conversation, and 'wind chimes', the hanging tubes that tinkle in a breeze. Pleasant and musical by nature, 'chime' rarely describes discordant noise; it suggests order, rhythm, and gentle resonance, whether in a cathedral tower, a hallway doorbell, or a well-matched pair of opinions.
A ringing, resonant sound produced by a bell or a set of tuned bells or metal bars.
"The chimes of Big Ben rang out across London."
Often used in plural ('the chimes') when referring to a sequence of notes.
To ring like a bell, especially to mark or announce the hour; or (of statements) to agree or correspond with something.
"The tower clock chimed twelve times at midnight."
In the sense of agreement, it is usually followed by 'with'.
Standard plural; commonly used for sets of bells or tuned instruments (e.g. 'wind chimes', 'the chimes of the carillon').
"The wind chimes sang softly on the porch all afternoon."
Every time your doorbell plays its little tune, you're hearing a descendant of medieval church bells — and the word itself may have wandered into English from Dutch via German bell-founders.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chime
The origin of 'chime' is somewhat uncertain, but it most likely entered Middle English around the late 14th century from Old French 'chimbe' or directly from Middle Dutch 'kimb(e)', related to German 'Kimm' — words connected to the rim or edge of a bell, suggesting the term originally referred to part of the bell itself before coming to denote its sound. It may ultimately trace back to Latin 'cymbalum' ('cymbal'), which would make it a distant relative of 'cymbal'. The figurative sense of agreement ('to chime with') developed later in English.
Related word forms
How chime is actually used
As a noun, 'chime' is common for both large bells and small domestic devices (door chimes, wind chimes). The verb sense of agreeing — almost always in the phrase 'chime with' — is chiefly British but well understood elsewhere; American English more often uses 'chime in' for joining a conversation. The word carries pleasant, resonant connotations: chimed sounds are typically melodic rather than harsh.
Easily confused with chime
'Chime' is a bell-like sound or agreement; 'chyme' is the semi-fluid mass of partly digested food in the stomach.