Belly

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bÉ›li/
• Rhymes: -É›li

Origin

From Old English bælġ. Probably originally from Proto-Indo-European *bhle- ("to swell, blow up")

Full definition of belly

Noun

1. The abdomen.
2. The stomach, especially a fat one.
3. The womb.
• Bible, Jer. i. 5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.
4. The lower fuselage of an airplane.
• 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 454:There was no heat, and we shivered in the belly of the plane.
5. The part of anything which resembles the human belly in protuberance or in cavity; the innermost part.the belly of a flask, muscle, sail, or ship
• Bible, Jonah ii. 2Out of the belly of hell cried I.
6. (architecture) The hollow part of a curved or bent timber, the convex part of which is the back.

Derived terms

Usage notes

Formerly, all the splanchnic or visceral cavities were called bellies: the lower belly being the abdomen; the middle belly, the thorax; and the upper belly, the head.

Verb

1. To position one's belly.
2. (intransitive) To swell and become protuberant; to bulge.
• DrydenThe bellying canvas strutted with the gale.
3. (transitive) To cause to swell out; to fill.
• ShakespeareYour breath of full consent bellied his sails.

Derived terms

• belly up