bellows

[ bel-ohz, -uhz ]
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noun(used with a singular or plural verb)
  1. a device for producing a strong current of air, consisting of a chamber that can be expanded to draw in air through a valve and contracted to expel it through a tube.

  2. anything resembling or suggesting bellows in form, as the collapsible part of a camera or enlarger.

  1. the lungs.

Origin of bellows

1
before 900; Middle English bel(o)wes (plural), Old English belg, short for blǣst belg, plural belgas blast-bag; cognate with Dutch blaasbalg,German Blasebalg,Old Norse belgr.See belly

Other words from bellows

  • bel·lows·like, adjective

Words Nearby bellows

Other definitions for Bellows (2 of 2)

Bellows
[ bel-ohz ]

noun
  1. George Wesley, 1882–1925, U.S. painter and lithographer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bellows in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bellows

bellows

/ (ˈbɛləʊz) /


noun(functioning as singular or plural)
  1. Also called: pair of bellows an instrument consisting of an air chamber with flexible sides or end, a means of compressing it, an inlet valve, and a constricted outlet that is used to create a stream of air, as for producing a draught for a fire or for sounding organ pipes

  2. photog a telescopic light-tight sleeve, connecting the lens system of some cameras to the body of the instrument

  1. a flexible corrugated element used as an expansion joint, pump, or means of transmitting axial motion

Origin of bellows

1
C16: from plural of Old English belig belly

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012