[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/belfry/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [B](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/b/) / belfry

# belfry

noun (a belfry, belfries)

«belfry» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. The tower, or the room at the top of a tower, where church bells hang. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/belfry/#m1)
2. (idiom) Have bats in the belfry: to be a bit crazy or odd (old-fashioned, jokey). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/belfry/#m2)

### In the lessons

In stories about old churches and castles a belfry is where bats and owls live and where bell-ringers climb. In history it shows how bells told villagers the time and warned of danger. Phrases: up in the belfry, bats in the belfry.

### Examples

- Bats lived up in the belfry of the old church. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/belfry/#x1)
- The bell-ringers climbed the steep stairs to the belfry. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/belfry/#x2)
- The bells in the belfry rang out at noon. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/belfry/#x3)
- (old-fashioned) "He's got bats in the belfry," said Grandad. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/belfry/#x4)
- We could see the belfry from the village green. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/belfry/#x5)
- Pigeons nested in the belfry. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/belfry/#x6)
- As soon as the boy reached the belfry, and turned himself round to seize the rope, he saw upon the stairs, near the sounding-hole, a white figure. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/belfry/#x7)

### Note

Countable: belfries (y to ies). It is not related to the word "bell" in origin, though belfries hold bells. "Bats in the belfry" is a jokey and slightly unkind phrase.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «belfry» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/belfry/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«belfry» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/belfry.html) on Mova free.