"bell the cat" meaning in All languages combined

See bell the cat on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Audio: en-au-bell the cat.ogg Forms: bells the cat [present, singular, third-person], belling the cat [participle, present], belled the cat [participle, past], belled the cat [past]
Etymology: From a medieval fable in which mice agree that a bell should be put round a cat's neck so they will always be warned of its arrival, but cannot agree who should undertake the dangerous task. Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} bell the cat (third-person singular simple present bells the cat, present participle belling the cat, simple past and past participle belled the cat)
  1. (idiomatic) To undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group. Wikipedia link: Belling the cat Tags: idiomatic Related terms: take one for the team, step into the breach, fall on a grenade Translations (to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group): de kat de bel aanbinden (Dutch), panna kello kissan kaulaan (Finnish), attacher le grelot (French), der Katze die Schelle umhängen (German), der Katze die Schelle anhängen (German), henge bjella på katten (Norwegian Bokmål), hengje bjølla på katten (Norwegian Nynorsk), henge bjølla på katten (Norwegian Nynorsk), پیش مرگ شدن، در انجام کار مشکلی پیش قدم شدن (Persian), narazić się (dla dobra grupy) (Polish), ponerle el cascabel al gato (Spanish), đeo lục lạc cho mèo (Vietnamese), treo chuông cổ mèo (Vietnamese)

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From a medieval fable in which mice agree that a bell should be put round a cat's neck so they will always be warned of its arrival, but cannot agree who should undertake the dangerous task.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bells the cat",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "belling the cat",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "belled the cat",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "belled the cat",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "bell the cat (third-person singular simple present bells the cat, present participle belling the cat, simple past and past participle belled the cat)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Persian terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Persian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Vietnamese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group."
      ],
      "id": "en-bell_the_cat-en-verb-JNvg9cdn",
      "links": [
        [
          "undertake",
          "undertake"
        ],
        [
          "dangerous",
          "dangerous"
        ],
        [
          "service",
          "service"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "take one for the team"
        },
        {
          "word": "step into the breach"
        },
        {
          "word": "fall on a grenade"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "de kat de bel aanbinden"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "panna kello kissan kaulaan"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "attacher le grelot"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "der Katze die Schelle umhängen"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "der Katze die Schelle anhängen"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "henge bjella på katten"
        },
        {
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "hengje bjølla på katten"
        },
        {
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "henge bjølla på katten"
        },
        {
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "پیش مرگ شدن، در انجام کار مشکلی پیش قدم شدن"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "narazić się (dla dobra grupy)"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "ponerle el cascabel al gato"
        },
        {
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "đeo lục lạc cho mèo"
        },
        {
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
          "word": "treo chuông cổ mèo"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Belling the cat"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bell the cat.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/39/En-au-bell_the_cat.ogg/En-au-bell_the_cat.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/En-au-bell_the_cat.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bell the cat"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From a medieval fable in which mice agree that a bell should be put round a cat's neck so they will always be warned of its arrival, but cannot agree who should undertake the dangerous task.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bells the cat",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "belling the cat",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "belled the cat",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "belled the cat",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "bell the cat (third-person singular simple present bells the cat, present participle belling the cat, simple past and past participle belled the cat)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "take one for the team"
    },
    {
      "word": "step into the breach"
    },
    {
      "word": "fall on a grenade"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English predicates",
        "English verbs",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Persian terms with redundant script codes",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
        "Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations",
        "Terms with Persian translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Vietnamese translations"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "undertake",
          "undertake"
        ],
        [
          "dangerous",
          "dangerous"
        ],
        [
          "service",
          "service"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Belling the cat"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bell the cat.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/39/En-au-bell_the_cat.ogg/En-au-bell_the_cat.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/En-au-bell_the_cat.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "de kat de bel aanbinden"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "panna kello kissan kaulaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "attacher le grelot"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "der Katze die Schelle umhängen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "der Katze die Schelle anhängen"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "henge bjella på katten"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "hengje bjølla på katten"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "henge bjølla på katten"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "پیش مرگ شدن، در انجام کار مشکلی پیش قدم شدن"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "narazić się (dla dobra grupy)"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "ponerle el cascabel al gato"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "đeo lục lạc cho mèo"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "to undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group",
      "word": "treo chuông cổ mèo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bell the cat"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.