Hell

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Hell \Hell\, v. t.
     To overwhelm. [Obs.] --Spenser.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Hell \Hell\, n. [AS. hell; akin to D. hel, OHG. hella, G.
     h["o]lle, Icel. hal, Sw. helfvete, Dan. helvede, Goth. halja,
     and to AS. helan to conceal. ???. Cf. {Hele}, v. t.,
     {Conceal}, {Cell}, {Helmet}, {Hole}, {Occult}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. The place of the dead, or of souls after death; the grave;
        -- called in Hebrew sheol, and by the Greeks hades.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He descended into hell.               --Book of
                                                    Common Prayer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.  --Ps. xvi. 10.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It is a knell
              That summons thee to heaven or to hell. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A place where outcast persons or things are gathered; as:
        (a) A dungeon or prison; also, in certain running games, a
            place to which those who are caught are carried for
            detention.
        (b) A gambling house. "A convenient little gambling hell
            for those who had grown reckless." --W. Black.
        (c) A place into which a tailor throws his shreds, or a
            printer his broken type. --Hudibras.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     {Gates of hell}. (Script.) See {Gate}, n., 4.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  hell
       n 1: any place of pain and turmoil; "the hell of battle"; "the
            inferno of the engine room"; "when you're alone
            Christmas is the pits"; [syn: {hell on earth}, {hellhole},
             {snake pit}, {the pits}, {inferno}]
       2: a cause of difficulty and suffering; "war is hell"; "go to
          blazes" [syn: {blaze}]
       3: (Christianity) the abode of Satan and the forces of evil;
          where sinners suffer eternal punishment; "Hurl'd
          headlong...To bottomless perdition, there to dwell"- John
          Milton; "a demon from the depths of the pit" [syn: {perdition},
           {Inferno}, {infernal region}, {nether region}, {the pit}]
          [ant: {Heaven}]
       4: (religion) the world of the dead; "he didn't want to go to
          hell when he died" [syn: {Hel}, {Hades}, {infernal region},
           {netherworld}, {Scheol}, {underworld}]
       5: violent and excited activity; "they began to fight like sin"
          [syn: {sin}]
       6: noisy and unrestrained mischief; "raising blazes" [syn: {blaze}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  101 Moby Thesaurus words for "hell":
     Abaddon, Acheron, Babel, Dis, Erebus, Gehenna, Hades, Pandemonium,
     Sheol, Styx, Tartarus, Tophet, Torrid Zone, abyss, affliction,
     agony, anguish, bedlam, betting house, betting parlor, blazes,
     bottomless pit, bowels, cacophony, cage, casino, castigation,
     censure, chaos, clawing, confusion of tongues, coop, crib,
     criticism, cruciation, crucifixion, deep space, deeps, depths,
     enclosure, equator, flat, furnace, gambling den, gambling hall,
     gambling hell, gambling house, gaming house, gaping depths, hades,
     hell upon earth, holocaust, horror, infernal pit, infernal regions,
     inferno, joint, laceration, lancination, limbo, lower world,
     martyrdom, misery, nether world, netherworld, nightmare, noise,
     ordeal, outer space, oven, pain, pandemonium, passion, pen,
     penfold, perdition, persecution, pinfold, pit,
     place of confinement, poolroom, pound, purgatory, rack, racket,
     reprimand, scolding, sporting house, static, steam bath,
     subtropics, suffering, torment, torture, trial, tropics,
     underworld, unfathomed deeps, unknown depths, upbraiding,
     wassail
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Hell
     derived from the Saxon helan, to cover; hence the covered or the
     invisible place. In Scripture there are three words so rendered:
     
       (1.) Sheol, occurring in the Old Testament sixty-five times.
     This word sheol is derived from a root-word meaning "to ask,"
     "demand;" hence insatiableness (Prov. 30:15, 16). It is rendered
     "grave" thirty-one times (Gen. 37:35; 42:38; 44:29, 31; 1 Sam.
     2:6, etc.). The Revisers have retained this rendering in the
     historical books with the original word in the margin, while in
     the poetical books they have reversed this rule.
     
       In thirty-one cases in the Authorized Version this word is
     rendered "hell," the place of disembodied spirits. The
     inhabitants of sheol are "the congregation of the dead" (Prov.
     21:16). It is (a) the abode of the wicked (Num. 16:33; Job
     24:19; Ps. 9:17; 31:17, etc.); (b) of the good (Ps. 16:10; 30:3;
     49:15; 86:13, etc.).
     
       Sheol is described as deep (Job 11:8), dark (10:21, 22), with
     bars (17:16). The dead "go down" to it (Num. 16:30, 33; Ezek.
     31:15, 16, 17).
     
       (2.) The Greek word hades of the New Testament has the same
     scope of signification as sheol of the Old Testament. It is a
     prison (1 Pet. 3:19), with gates and bars and locks (Matt.
     16:18; Rev. 1:18), and it is downward (Matt. 11:23; Luke 10:15).
     
       The righteous and the wicked are separated. The blessed dead
     are in that part of hades called paradise (Luke 23:43). They are
     also said to be in Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22).
     
       (3.) Gehenna, in most of its occurrences in the Greek New
     Testament, designates the place of the lost (Matt. 23:33). The
     fearful nature of their condition there is described in various
     figurative expressions (Matt. 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 25:30; Luke
     16:24, etc.). (See {HINNOM}.)