a. often Hell The place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, often imagined as being presided over by Satan and his devils.

b. A state of separation from God; exclusion from God's presence.

2. The abode of the dead in any of various religious traditions, such as the Hebrew Sheol or the Greek Hades; the underworld.

a. A situation or place of evil, misery, discord, or destruction: "War is hell" (William Tecumseh Sherman).

b. An extremely difficult experience; torment or anguish: went through hell on the job.

a. The spirits in hell or the powers of evil: All hell could not stop him.

b.Informal One that causes trouble, agony, or annoyance: The boss is hell when a job is poorly done.

5. A sharp scolding: gave the student hell for cheating.

a. A tailor's receptacle for discarded material.

b.Printing A hellbox.

a. An outstanding or noteworthy example: You are one hell of a good cook.

b. Used as an intensive: How the hell should I know?

c. Used for intensive effect in idioms such as beat the hell out of (someone) for beat (someone) very badly.

8.Archaic A gambling house.

To behave riotously; carouse: out all night helling around.

Used to express anger, disgust, or impatience.

for the hell of it

For no particular reason; on a whim: walked home by the old school for the hell of it.

1. Damaging or destructive to: Driving in a hilly town is hell on the brakes.

2. Unpleasant to or painful for.

Troubles or difficulties of whatever magnitude: We're staying, come hell or high water.

Great trouble: If we're wrong, there'll be hell to pay.

1. Used as an intensive: He ran like hell to catch the bus.

2. Used to express strong contradiction or refusal: He says he's going along with us—Like hell he is!

to hell and gone

1. A long distance away: drove to hell and gone and still couldn't find a diner.

2. Far and wide: friends scattered to hell and gone.

3. Into the next world: The bomb blew the truck to hell and gone.

Used to express contempt for or dismissal of someone or something.

[Middle English helle. from Old English; see kel- in Indo-European roots .]

Word History: When the Anglo-Saxons became Christian in early medieval times, the Old English word hel was used to translate the Latin word īnfernus, "the lower region, hell," and designate the fiery place of eternal punishment for the damned. But what did hel designate before the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons? We can discover some indication of the original pagan meaning of hel by examining its Old Norse equivalent, hel. The medieval Scandinavians and Icelanders were converted from paganism much later than the Anglo-Saxons, and they preserved a good deal of pagan poetry revealing the ancient Scandinavian vision of the afterworld. The medieval Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson, a Christian, also paints a vivid picture of hel for us in his accounts of Norse myth (although his description may have been influenced by his own Christian conception of hell). The Old Norse hel is the abode of oathbreakers, other evil persons, and those unlucky enough to have died of old age or sickness rather than in the glory of the battlefield. Unlike the typical Christian conception of Hell, the Old Norse hel is very cold. It contrasts sharply with Valhalla, the hall in Asgard where heroes slain in battle carouse with the gods after death. In Old Norse, Hel is also the name of the goddess or giantess who presides in hel. She is the daughter of the god Loki and sister of the enormous wolf that will attack the gods at the end of the world. One half of Hel's body is blue-black, while the other is white. The Indo-European root behind Old English hel and Old Norse hel, as well as their Germanic relatives like German Hölle, "hell," is *kel-, "to cover, conceal." In origin, hell is thus the "concealed place." The root *kel-, also gives us other words for things that cover, conceal, or contain, such as hall, hole, hollow, helmet, and even Valhalla, from Old Norse Valhöll, literally the "Hall (höll ) of the Slain (Valr )."

1. (Theology) Christianity (sometimes capital )

a. the place or state of eternal punishment of the wicked after death, with Satan as its ruler

b. forces of evil regarded as residing there

2. (Other Non-Christian Religions) (sometimes capital ) (in various religions and cultures) the abode of the spirits of the dead. See also Hel. Hades. Sheol

3. pain, extreme difficulty, etc

4.informal a cause of such difficulty or suffering: war is hell.

5.USandCanadian high spirits or mischievousness: there's hell in that boy.

6. (Knitting & Sewing) a box used by a tailor for discarded material

7. (Gambling, except Cards) rare a gambling house, booth, etc

8.as hell (intensifier): tired as hell.

9.for the hell of itinformal for the fun of it

10.from hellinformal denoting a person or thing that is particularly bad or alarming: neighbour from hell ; hangover from hell.

11.give someone hellinformal

a. to give someone a severe reprimand or punishment

b. to be a source of annoyance or torment to someone

12.hell of ahelluvainformal (intensifier): a hell of a good performance.

13.hell for leather at great speed

14.hell or high watercome hell or high waterinformal whatever difficulties may arise

15.hell to payinformal serious consequences, as of a foolish action

a. (adverb ) (intensifier): he works like hell.

b. an expression of strong disagreement with a previous statement, request, order, etc

17.play hell withplay merry hell withinformal to throw into confusion and disorder; disrupt

a. to create a noisy disturbance, as in fun

b. to react strongly and unfavourably

a. (intensifier) used in such phrases as what the hell, who the hell, etc

b. an expression of strong disagreement or disfavour

informal an exclamation of anger, annoyance, surprise, etc (Also in exclamations such as hell's bells, hell's teeth, etc)

[Old English hell; related to helan to cover, Old Norse hel, Gothic halja hell, Old High German hella ]

1. the place or state of punishment of the wicked after death; the abode of evil and condemned spirits.

2. any place or state of torment or misery: to make someone's life hell.

3. something that causes torment or misery.

4. the powers of evil.

5. the abode of the dead; Sheol or Hades.

6. extreme disorder or confusion; chaos: All hell broke loose.

7. a severe scolding or punishment: to catch hell; to give someone hell.

8. (used in swearing, as an expression of anger, dismissal, disgust, etc. or as an intensive): the hell with it; guilty as hell; a hell of a nice guy; Where the hell were you?

9. a box into which a printer throws discarded type.

10. (used to express irritation, disgust, surprise, etc.)

11.hell around,Slang. to live or act in a wild or dissolute manner.

a. to be unpleasant to or painful for.

b. to be harmful to: These country roads are hell on tires.

2.for the hell of it,Informal. with no purpose other than sheer adventure or fun.

3.hell on wheels,Informal. extremely aggressive, active, or difficult to deal with.

4.hell to pay, very bad results or repercussions.

a. with great speed, effort, intensity, etc. We ran like hell.

b. Also, the hell. (used to emphasize a speaker's denial or disagreement): He says the motor won't break down? Like hell it won't!

6.play hell with,Informal. to injure or disrupt.

a. to indulge in wild celebration.

b. to create an uproar; object violently.

8.till hell freezes over, an impossibly long time; forever.

[before 900; Middle English, Old English hel(l), c. Old High German hell(i)a, Old Norse hel, Gothic halja; akin to Old English helan to cover, hide, and to hull 2 ]

(hil; unstressed il, hɪl, ɪl)

contraction of he will.

• barathrum - A bottomless pit or hell.
• fire and brimstone - Eternal punishment in hell (from Genesis 19:24 and Revelation 19:20).
• pandemonium - Literally means abode of all demons (or hell), from Greek pan-, "all," and daimon, "demon(s)."
• hell - The Indo-European root meant "covered or concealed," as hell is supposedly hidden in the dark regions near the Earth's center.

an abnormal fear of heil. Also called stygiophobia .

for the hell of it(Informal) for fun. meaningless. for a laugh It was stupid, just vandalism for the hell of it.

give someone hell(Informal) scold. rebuke. reprimand. berate. lecture. be angry at. chastise. slap someone's wrist. bawl out. give someone a rollicking My father saw this in the newspaper and gave me absolute hell.

raise hellcause a disturbance. run riot. go wild. raise Cain. be loud and noisy Those people will be jabbering and raising hell.

Quotations
"There is a dreadful Hell,"
"And everlasting pains;"
"There sinners must with devils dwell"
"In darkness, fire, and chains" [Isaac Watts Divine Songs for Children ]
"Hell hath no limits nor is circumscribed"
"In one self place, where we are is Hell,"
"And to be short, when all the world dissolves"
"And every creature shall be purified"
"All places shall be Hell that are not Heaven" [Christopher Marlowe Doctor Faustus ]
"But wherefore thou alone? Wherefore with thee"
"Came not all hell broke loose?" [John Milton Paradise Lost ]
"Hell is other people" [Jean-Paul Sartre Huis Clos ]
"A perpetual holiday is a good working definition of hell" [George Bernard Shaw Parents and Children ]
"Hell is a city much like London -"
"A populous and smoky city" [Percy Bysshe Shelley Peter Bell the Third ]
"Hell is not to love any more, madame. Not to love any more!" [Georges Bernanos The Diary of a Country Priest ]
"What is hell?"
"Hell is yourself,"
"Hell is alone, the other figures in it"
"Merely projections" [T.S. Eliot The Cocktail Party ]
"If there is no Hell, a good many preachers are obtaining money under false pretenses" [William A. Sunday]

Idiom: tortures of the damned.

(RELIGION) (= place ) → enfer m
he can go to hell → il peut aller se faire voir
it is hell on earth (= terrible ) → c'est l'enfer
a living hell → un véritable enfer
the neighbour from hell → le pire des voisins
come hell or high water (= come what may ) → quoi qu'il arrive
oh, to hell with it! (= who cares ) → la barbe!
what the hell! (= I don't care ) → et merde !

(used for emphasis) a hell of a. [+ struggle, job ] → un(e) sacré (e).
to have a hell of a job doing sth → avoir beaucoup de mal à faire qch
a hell of a lot (= huge amount ) → énormément
a hell of a lot of sth → énormément de qch

there'll be hell to pay (= trouble ) → ça va barder

(= fun ) for the hell of it → pour le plaisir
I did it just for the hell of it
BUT Je l'ai fait juste parce que ça me chantait.

(with what, how, who, where) what the hell's going on? → mais bon sang. qu'est-ce qui se passe.
where the hell have you been? → mais où étais-tu passé, bon sang.
how the hell should I know? → comment est-ce que j'aurais pu le savoir, bon sang.

to play hell with sth (= mess up ) → bouleverser qch

(according to some religions) the place or state of punishment of the wicked after death with much pain, misery etc. hel جهنَّم ад inferno peklo die Hölle helvede κόλαση infierno põrgu جهنم helvetti enfer גיהינום नरक pakao pokol neraka helvíti inferno 地獄 지옥 같은 곳 pragaras elle Neraka hel. vagevuur helvete piekło د وزخ inferno iad ад peklo pekel pakao helvete[t] ขุมนรก cehennem 地獄 пекло جہنم địa ngục 地狱

for the hell of it

for no particular reason; just for fun. The boys said they had set fire to the house just for the hell of it. vir die aardigheid بِدون أي سبب مُحَدَّد، للمرح فقط ей така por farra z legrace aus Spaß for sjov για πλάκα, στα καλά καθούμενα por que sí; por el gusto de hacerlo, por darse el gusto lõbu pärast بي دليل huvin vuoksi pour le plaisir סתם अकारण iz vica, za zabavu csak úgy heccből tanpa alasan til gamans così. per gioco おもしろ半分に 이유도 없이 šiaip sau, iš neturėjimo ką veikti joka pēc; tāpat vien utk suka-suka zomaar. voor de grap bare på gøy dla zabawy بی دلیل por gozo (doar aşa) de-al naibii просто так zo žartu za hec radi zabave för skojs skull, på jävelskap ทำอย่างสนุก sırf zevk/iş olsun diye 沒有特別原因，只是為了好玩 просто так یوں ہی، تفریحا chỉ đùa cho vui 只是为了好玩

determined on. I've told him it will be dangerous, but he's hellbent on going. vasbeslote wees مُصَمِّمٌ عَلى настървен decidido pevně rozhodnutý rücksichtslos fast besluttet αποφασισμένος totalmente resuelto a pähe võtnud مصمم vakaasti päättänyt acharné נחוש कृतसंकल्प koji bezglavo srlja elszánt bertekad harðákveðinn í e-u ostinato どうしてもやる 굳게 결심하다 užsispyręs kaip velnias pārņemts (ar kaut ko); apsēsts berkeras vastbesloten fast besluttet på zdeterminowany پرېكړه كول، فيصله كول، محدودول، څرګندول، معلومول، پرټاكلى لاره روانول decidido (al naibii de) hotărât дьявольски упорствовать pevne rozhodnutý, odhodlaný trdno odločen rešen absolut inställd på, fast besluten ซึ่งตั้งใจจริงอย่างไม่ยอมลดละ azimli, kararlı 堅決的 такий, що має намір що зробити تلا ہوا، بختہ عزم cứ khăng khăng 固执的

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References in classic literature ?

Boys like young George Willard and Seth Richmond will remember the incident quite vividly because, although everyone in our town said that the old man would go straight to hell and that the community was better off without him, they had a secret conviction that he knew what he was doing and admired his foolish courage.

It seemed, for near a minute, as if the demons of hell had possessed themselves of the air about them, and were venting their savage humors in barbarous sounds.

You gotta hell of a nerve to come to see me," he commented cheerfully.

Or a gambling hell ," said his brother reflectively.

I saw the opening maw of hell. With endless pains and sorrows there; Which none but they that feel can tell-- Oh, I was plunging to despair.

So in dreams, have I seen majestic Satan thrusting forth his tormented colossal claw from the flame Baltic of Hell .

But that men fear him for that he hath the storms and the lightnings and all the devils that be in hell at his beck and call, they would have dug his en- trails out these many years ago to get at that tale and squelch it.

But I didn't do it straight off, but laid the paper down and set there thinking -- thinking how good it was all this happened so, and how near I come to being lost and going to hell .

They were sincere, for like a god he had stretched forth his mighty hand and closed the gates of hell against them.

It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass.

Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view Nor the deep Tract of Hell. say first what cause Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State, Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off From their Creator, and transgress his Will For one restraint, Lords of the World besides?

as well confess myself to the devil as to Brian de Bois-Guilbert, who recks neither of heaven nor of hell .