ring a bell

phraseB2Not compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To ring a bell is to sound faintly familiar without quite coming back. The name rings a bell.

It describes half a memory, which is exactly the state it names. It is nearly always used of names and places rather than of facts.

Definitions of ring a bell

1phrasering a bellTo sound faintly familiar without quite coming back.B2
“The street name does ring a bell but I could not tell you why.”

ring a bell is a phrase.

Practised in Idioms