Idiom idiom
belly up
Meaning
Dead or defunct.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The old computer finally went belly up yesterday.”
“After the company lost its biggest client, the entire business went belly up within a month.”
“The ambitious project went belly up when the investors withdrew their funding, leaving the team with nothing but empty promises.”
Anchors to
- 01
belly up to the bar
To commit oneself to a challenge or task; to accept a responsibility; to acknowledge a fact.
- 02
Delhi belly
Digestive illness or diarrhea, especially if suffered by a visitor to India.
- 03
fire in the belly
The emotional stamina and vigor, passion, or inner drive to achieve something, to take action, etc.
Last updated August 10, 2026