(as) sound as a bell

In particularly good health or condition. I was pretty run down with the flu for a while there, but I'm sound as a bell now. A quick sanding and a fresh coat of paint will make this old chair as sound as a bell.

in perfect condition or health; undamaged. (*Also: as ~.) The doctor says that the old man's heart's as sound as a bell. I thought the vase was broken when it fell, but it was sound as a bell.

In excellent condition, as in Now that the brakes have been relined, the car is sound as a bell, or The surgery went well and now he's sound as a bell. This simile rests on the assumption that the bell in question is not cracked (which would make it useless). First recorded in 1565, it has survived numerous other similes ( sound as a top or roach or dollar), probably owing to its pun on "sound."

If someone or something is as sound as a bell, they are very healthy or in very good condition. My knees aside, I'm as sound as a bell. The basic structure of the building is as sound as a bell. Note: `Sound' in this expression means whole and undamaged. A bell that has a crack in it will not ring clearly.

In excellent condition. Although this simile no doubt rests on the assumption that a cracked bell is useless, it may have outlived many others—among them sound as a top, roach, dollar, and the Bank of England— because of the pun it embodies. In any event, it has been around since at least 1565, when Thomas Newton, the translator of Touchstone of Complexions, wrote, “They be people commonly healthy, and as sound as a Bell.”