unring a bell

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

unring a bell (third-person singular simple present unrings a bell, present participle unringing a bell, simple past unrang a bell, past participle unrung a bell)

1. (idiomatic) To reverse the irreversible; to perform the impossible.
   • 2004, Fern Michaels, The Real Deal, page 413:

     "We can't unring any bells here. There's no point in trying to second-guess anyone right now. What's done is done."

   • 2024 May 7, Victoria Bekiempis, quoting Todd Blanche, “Trump hush-money trial: Stormy Daniels describes being ‘startled’ by sexual encounter”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     “We move for a mistrial based on the testimony this morning,” Blanche said. “There’s no way to unring that bell, in our view.”

See also

• put the genie back in the bottle