BELLY • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Belly

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/bˈɛli/ Listen

noun

Belly n. (pl. bellies)

1.

That part of the human body which extends downward from the breast to the thighs, and contains the bowels, or intestines; the abdomen. Note: 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.

2.

The under part of the body of animals, corresponding to the human belly. "Underneath the belly of their steeds."

3.

The womb. (Obs.) "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee."

4.

The part of anything which resembles the human belly in protuberance or in cavity; the innermost part; as, the belly of a flask, muscle, sail, ship. "Out of the belly of hell cried I."

5.

(Arch.) The hollow part of a curved or bent timber, the convex part of which is the back.

Belly doublet, a doublet of the 16th century, hanging down so as to cover the belly.

Belly fretting, the chafing of a horse's belly with a girth.

Belly timber, food. (Ludicrous)

Belly worm, a worm that breeds or lives in the belly (stomach or intestines).

verb

Belly v. t. (past & past part. bellied; pres. part. bellying) To cause to swell out; to fill. (R.) "Your breath of full consent bellied his sails."

Belly v. i. To swell and become protuberant, like the belly; to bulge. "The bellying canvas strutted with the gale."

See images of 'Belly'

Etymology of 'Belly'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Belly" Quotes from Famous Books

... soiled, too hot, or is wrapped too tightly, or who has on a tight, uncomfortable belly band, or whose clothing is full of wrinkles, has only one way to tell us of his discomfort, and that is to cry. It is a fretful cry and should command an immediate investigation as to the possible cause. It takes but ...

— The Mother and Her Child • William S. Sadler

... a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven ...

— The Parables of Our Lord • William Arnot

... He was a sort of blood stockbroker, who did his business by toadying eldest sons and rich young peers and foolish old ladies. 'Marmie' was a familiar figure, I understood, at balls and polo-weeks and country houses. He was an adroit scandal-monger, and would crawl a mile on his belly to anything that had a title or a million. I had a business introduction to his firm when I came to London, and he was good enough to ask me to dinner at his club. There he showed off at a great rate, and ...

— The Thirty-nine Steps • John Buchan

... eat. I was obliged to hire little boys to watch the donkeys, and to drive off these plagues; but so determined and bold were the birds, that I have constantly seen them run under the body of the donkey, clinging to the belly with their feet, and thus retreating to the opposite side of the animal when chased by the watch-boys. In a few days my animals were full of wounds, excepting the horses, whose long tails were effectual whisks. Although ...

— The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile • Sir Samuel White Baker

... Pythoness (speaking of the Witch of Endor) being ventriloqua, that is, speaking as it were from the bottom of her belly, did cast herself into a trance, and so abused Saul in Samuel's name in her ...

— The Problems of Psychical Research - Experiments and Theories in the Realm of the Supernormal • Hereward Carrington

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