English

Verb

saved by the bell

1. (boxing, wrestling, of a competitor) In a boxing or wrestling match or similar competition, spared from being counted out by the referee by the ringing of the bell which concludes the round.
   • 2002 July 19, Damon Hack, "Boxing: Despite Not Having the Title, Mosley Garners Attention," New York Times (retrieved 6 Jan 2014):

     Forrest floored Mosley again at the end of the round and almost finished him, but Mosley was saved by the bell.

2. (idiomatic, by extension) Rescued or favorably assisted by a timely interruption or by the sudden termination of difficult circumstances.
   • 1988, Patrick Seale and Maureen McConville, Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East, ISBN 9780520066670, p. 248 (Google preview):

     So Asad's probing created a problem. . . . In a real sense Kissinger was saved by the bell: the American party had that afternoon to catch a plane to Israel.

   • 1997, John Howard Yoder, For the Nations: Essays Evangelical and Public, ISBN 9780802843241, p. 130 (Google preview):

     The Montgomery bus boycott was "saved by the bell" of a federal Supreme Court decision that came just before the last minute.

   • 2001 April 17, David M. Halbfinger, "New Jersey's Acting Governor Was Faulted on Ethics in 1998," New York Times (retrieved 6 Jan 2014):

     But in 1998, Mr. DiFrancesco never answered the allegations against him to the satisfaction of town officials. Instead, he was saved by the bell, in a way: In a rare electoral upset, Democrats took control of the Township Council in November 1998. They immediately fired Mr. DiFrancesco and replaced him with a Democrat, giving his termination the appearance of simple partisan politics.