belly
n. · v.-
1 stomach area (n.) A2 Elementarythe stomach or the front part of the body below the chest.
the abdomen or stomach region of a human or animal.
ExampleThe puppy rolled over to let someone scratch its belly.
ExampleAfter the heavy holiday meal, he sat back in his armchair and patted his belly with a look of total satisfaction.
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2 underside of a vehicle (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatethe bottom part of a large object, like an airplane or a ship.
the lower fuselage of an aircraft or the underside of a large vessel.
ExampleThe luggage is stored in the belly of the plane.
ExampleThe engineers inspected the belly of the aircraft for any signs of structural damage after the emergency landing on the grass strip.
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3 to swell or bulge (v.) C1 Advanced Literaryto swell out or fill with air, like a sail in the wind.
to swell out or become protuberant; often used of sails or curtains filling with air.
ExampleThe sails began to belly out as the wind picked up.
ExampleThe heavy velvet curtains bellied inward as a sudden gust of cold night air forced its way through the open window.
- deflate
- flatten
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *balgiz Proto-West Germanic *balgi Old English bielġ Middle English bely English belly Inherited from Middle English bely, beli, bali, below, belew, balyw, from Old English bielġ (“bag, pouch, bulge”), from Proto-West Germanic balgi, balgu, from Proto-Germanic balgiz, balguz (“skin, hide, bellows, bag”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell, blow up”). Cognate with Dutch balg, German Balg, Danish bælg, Old Irish bolg, Welsh bol. Doublet of bellows, blague, bulge, and budge. See also bellows. For the belly — bellows connection compare typologically Macedonian мев (mev, “abdomen, belly; bellows”). Also compare Ancient Greek φῦσα (phûsa, “bellows; bladder; ...”), Latin venter — vēsīca, Russian пу́зо (púzo) — пузы́рь (puzýrʹ), пузырёк (puzyrjók).
- Nounbelly
- Noununderbelly