save by the bell
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Rescued from a difficult situation just in time
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
được cứu khỏi một tình huống khó khăn đúng lúc
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: saved by the ringing of a bell
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company was saved by the bell when a new investor appeared
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “save by the bell” mean?
Rescued from a difficult situation just in time Literally: saved by the ringing of a bell
Is “save by the bell” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.