Definition of "hell" [hell]

• The abode of condemned souls and devils in some religions; the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan. (noun)
• A state of separation from God; exclusion from God's presence. (noun)
• The abode of the dead, identified with the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades; the underworld. (noun)
• A situation or place of evil, misery, discord, or destruction: "War is hell” ( William Tecumseh Sherman). (noun)
• Torment; anguish: went through hell on the job. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It may be well for theologians to know (if any of them believe in hell as preached) whether or not they have got through discussing hell; their views have no weight whatever on the minds of the masses, for they are all the time making light, fun, and sport of the word _hell_. '"
• "I ain't dictatin 'what kind of a hell there is; you can make it fire or water or anything else you like, but _there is a hell_, an' _you believe in it_."
• "But El Salvador lent a whole different meaning to the term hell hole."