1. [n]  noisy and unrestrained mischief; "raising blazes"
2. [n]  (colloquial) violent and excited activity; "they began to fight like sin"
3. [n]  a cause of difficulty and suffering; "war is hell"; "go to blazes"
4. [n]  (in various religions) the world of the dead; "he didn't want to go to hell when he died"
5. [n]  (Christianity) the abode of Satan and the forces of evil; where sinners suffer eternal punishment; "Hurl'd headlong...To bottomless perdition, there to dwell"- John Milton; "a demon from the depths of the pit"
6. [n]  any place of pain and turmoil; "the hell of battle"; "the inferno of the engine room"; "when you're alone Christmas is the pits";

1. \Hell\, n. [AS. hell; akin to D. hel, OHG. hella, G.
   h["o]lle, Icel. hal, Sw. helfvete, Dan. helvede, Goth. halja,
   and to AS. helan to conceal. ???. Cf. {Hele}, v. t.,
   {Conceal}, {Cell}, {Helmet}, {Hole}, {Occult}.]
   1. The place of the dead, or of souls after death; the grave;
      -- called in Hebrew sheol, and by the Greeks hades.
            He descended into hell.               --Book of
                                                  Common Prayer.
            Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.  --Ps. xvi. 10.
   2. The place or state of punishment for the wicked after
      death; the abode of evil spirits. Hence, any mental
      torment; anguish. ``Within him hell.'' --Milton.
            It is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to
            hell.                                 --Shak.
   3. A place where outcast persons or things are gathered; as:
      (a) A dungeon or prison; also, in certain running games, a
          place to which those who are caught are carried for
          detention.
      (b) A gambling house. ``A convenient little gambling hell
          for those who had grown reckless.'' --W. Black.
      (c) A place into which a tailor throws his shreds, or a
          printer his broken type. --Hudibras.
   {Gates of hell}. (Script.) See {Gate}, n., 4.
   

2. \Hell\, v. t.
   To overwhelm. [Obs.] --Spenser.
   

derived from the Saxon helan, to cover; hence the covered or the invisible place. In Scripture there are three words so rendered:

(1.) Sheol, occurring in the Old Testament sixty-five times. This word sheol is derived from a root-word meaning "to ask," "demand;" hence insatiableness (Prov. 30:15, 16). It is rendered "grave" thirty-one times (Gen. 37:35; 42:38; 44:29, 31; 1 Sam. 2:6, etc.). The Revisers have retained this rendering in the historical books with the original word in the margin, while in the poetical books they have reversed this rule.

In thirty-one cases in the Authorized Version this word is rendered "hell," the place of disembodied spirits. The inhabitants of sheol are "the congregation of the dead" (Prov. 21:16). It is (a) the abode of the wicked (Num. 16:33; Job 24:19; Ps. 9:17; 31:17, etc.); (b) of the good (Ps. 16:10; 30:3; 49:15; 86:13, etc.).

Sheol is described as deep (Job 11:8), dark (10:21, 22), with bars (17:16). The dead "go down" to it (Num. 16:30, 33; Ezek. 31:15, 16, 17).

(2.) The Greek word hades of the New Testament has the same scope of signification as sheol of the Old Testament. It is a prison (1 Pet. 3:19), with gates and bars and locks (Matt. 16:18; Rev. 1:18), and it is downward (Matt. 11:23; Luke 10:15).

The righteous and the wicked are separated. The blessed dead are in that part of hades called paradise (Luke 23:43). They are also said to be in Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22).

(3.) Gehenna, in most of its occurrences in the Greek New Testament, designates the place of the lost (Matt. 23:33). The fearful nature of their condition there is described in various figurative expressions (Matt. 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 25:30; Luke 16:24, etc.). (See HINNOM.)