What is "peal"

Peal \Peal\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Pealed; p. pr. & vb. n. Pealing.]

1. To utter or give out loud sounds.

   There let the pealing organ blow.
   --Milton.

2. To resound; to echo.

   And the whole air pealed With the cheers of our men.
   --Longfellow.

Peal \Peal\, v. t.

1. To utter or give forth loudly; to cause to give out loud sounds; to noise abroad.

   The warrior's name, Though pealed and chimed on all the tongues of fame.
   --J. Barlow.

2. To assail with noise or loud sounds.

   Nor was his ear less pealed.
   --Milton.

3. To pour out. [Prov. Eng.]
   --Halliwell.

Peal \Peal\, n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Zo["o]l.) A small salmon; a grilse; a sewin. [Prov. Eng.]

Peal \Peal\, v. i. To appeal. [Obs.]
--Spencer.

Peal \Peal\, n. [An abbrev. of F. appel a call, appeal, ruffle of a drum, fr. appeller to call, L. appellare. See Appeal.]

1. A loud sound, or a succession of loud sounds, as of bells, thunder, cannon, shouts, of a multitude, etc. ``A fair peal of artillery.''
   --Hayward.

   Whether those peals of praise be his or no.
   --Shak.

   And a deep thunder, peal on peal, afar.
   --Byron.

2. A set of bells tuned to each other according to the diatonic scale; also, the changes rung on a set of bells.

   To ring a peal. See under Ring.

mid-14c., "a ringing of a bell" especially as a call to church service, generally considered a shortened form of appeal (n.), with the notion of a bell that "summons" people to church (compare similar evolution in peach (v.)). Extended sense of "loud ringing of bells" is first recorded 1510s.

1630s, from peal (n.). Related: Pealed; pealing.

Etymology 1 n. 1 A loud sound, or a succession of loud sounds, as of bells, thunder, cannon, shouts, laughter, of a multitude, etc. 2 A set of bells tuned to each other according to the diatonic scale. 3 The ring the changes on a set of bells. vb. 1 (context intransitive English) To sound with a peal or peals. 2 (context transitive English) To utter or sound loudly. 3 (context transitive English) To assail with noise. 4 To resound; to echo. 5 (context UK dialect English) To pour out. 6 (context obsolete English) To appeal. Etymology 2

n. A small salmon; a grilse; a sewin.

1. n. a deep prolonged sound (as of thunder or large bells) [syn: pealing, roll, rolling]

2. v. ring recurrently; "bells were pealing"

3. sound loudly and sonorously; "the bells rang" [syn: ring]

In campanology (bell ringing), a peal is the name given to a specific type of performance of change ringing. The precise definition of a peal has changed considerably over the years. Currently, for a performance to be recognised as a peal by the Central Council for Church Bell Ringers it must consist of sufficient changes (at least 5040 changes on up to seven working bells or 5000 changes on higher numbers), meet a number of other criteria (collectively referred to as the decisions), and be published in The Ringing World. On typical tower bells a peal takes around three hours to ring; the precise length depends on factors including the exact number of changes and the weight of the bells.

Originally a peal referred to a set sequence of changes of any length, now more often referred to as a touch. The original meaning is still in use today in call-change ringing. The most famous and frequently rung call change peal, associated with the Devon Association of ringers, is named 60 on 3rds. Related to this meaning is the practice of raising or lowering in peal, that is making the bells ready for change ringing by gradually increasing their swing until each bell is turning through a full circle, and then once ringing has finished returning them to their safe resting position by gradually reducing the amount of swing. A set of bells is sometimes called a peal of bells, but ringers usually prefer the name a ring of bells.

Quarter peals are also commonly rung. These generally meet most of the rules for a peal, but need be only a quarter the length (i.e. at least 1260 or 1250 changes, depending on the number of bells).