Definition of BELLY

belly

Meanings

Plural: bellies

Noun

  • the region of the body of a vertebrate between the thorax and the pelvis
  • a protruding abdomen
  • a part that bulges deeply
    • "the belly of a sail"
  • the hollow inside of something
    • "in the belly of the ship"
  • the underpart of the body of certain vertebrates such as snakes or fish
  • The abdomen (especially a fat one).
  • stomach (an organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion)
  • uterus (a reproductive organ of therian mammals in which the young are conceived and develop until birth)
  • The lower fuselage of an airplane.
  • The part of anything which resembles (either closely or abstractly) the human belly in protuberance or in concavity; often, the fundus (innermost part).
  • The main curved portion of a knife blade.
  • The part of anything which resembles (either closely or abstractly) the human belly in protuberance or in concavity; often, the fundus (innermost part).
  • The hollow part of a curved or bent timber, the convex part of which is the back.
  • The part of anything which resembles (either closely or abstractly) the human belly in protuberance or in concavity; often, the fundus (innermost part).

Verb

  • swell out or bulge out
  • To position one’s belly; to move on one’s belly.
  • To swell and become protuberant; to bulge or billow.
  • To cause to swell out; to fill.

Origin / Etymology

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).

Synonyms

abdomen, belly, belly out, matrix, metra, midriff, paunch, stomach, tum, tum-tum, tummy, uterus, venter, ventrum, womb

Scrabble Score: 10

belly is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
belly is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
belly is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 12

belly is a valid Words With Friends word