bells and whistles

plural noun

Definition of bells and whistles

: items or features that are useful or decorative but not essential : frills

Examples of bells and whistles in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Astrodome was in just its fourth year of operation and was ready to show off all the bells and whistles for the NBC audience. — Matt Young, Houston Chronicle, "Look back at the Astrodome's All-Star Game 50 years ago," 10 July 2018 Not enough bells and whistles to woo you to a new model? — Elle Decor Staff, ELLE Decor, "Cell Mates," 5 July 2012 Effler says that when the study was first conducted more than 30 years ago, cars had fewer bells and whistles, so the survey did usually just evaluate the mechanics. — Aditi Shrikant, Vox, "How James David Power III created the only car ranking company you’ve ever heard of.," 27 Nov. 2018 Beyond a fantasy kitchen’s bells and whistles, Porowski underscores the poignant value of a gathering place to cook. — Vogue, "Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski on his Dream Kitchen—And Why Ample Counter Space, a Massive Butcher Block, and “the Biggest Fridge Ever” Are Musts," 9 Nov. 2018 The new landing page will have some additional bells and whistles, too. — Patricia Hernandez, The Verge, "YouTube Gaming will be a part of the main experience now," 18 Sep. 2018 In Gurnee, the production is a much more high-tech affair using 3D projection mapping and other bells and whistles. — Lori Rackl, chicagotribune.com, "First look: Great Wolf Lodge Illinois ready to welcome guests, Chance the Rapper," 21 June 2018 In Gurnee, the production is a much more high-tech affair using 3D projection mapping and other bells and whistles. — Emily K. Coleman, Lake County News-Sun, "Chance the Rapper leads camp kids in test run at Great Wolf Lodge, Gurnee's newly renovated water park," 21 June 2018 This dual-fan RX 580 features a 1,380 MHz base clock, a 1,435 MHz boost clock, and should deliver an impeccable 1080p gaming experience with all the in-game graphical bells and whistles enabled. — Ian Paul, PCWorld, "ASRock's bundling an 8GB Radeon RX 580 graphics card with a B350 Ryzen motherboard for $300," 11 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bells and whistles.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.