bear away the bell

English

Etymology

A bell was once a traditional prize in races.

Verb

bear away the bell (third-person singular simple present bears away the bell, present participle bearing away the bell, simple past bore away the bell, past participle borne away the bell)

1. (idiomatic, obsolete) To be superior in something.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):

     And as these western men do bear away the bell for might and sleight in wrestling , so the scholars here have always acquitted themselves with credit in palæstrâ literariâ

References

• “bell”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.