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.
anything resembling or suggesting bellows in form, as the collapsible part of a camera or enlarger.
the lungs.
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
photog a telescopic light-tight sleeve, connecting the lens system of some cameras to the body of the instrument
a flexible corrugated element used as an expansion joint, pump, or means of transmitting axial motion
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
A bellows is a bag-like device with handles that's used to blow air onto a fire to keep the flame burning. If you have a fireplace in your house, you might have a bellows too. The kind of bellows that provides extra oxygen to a dwindling fire is similar to other types of bellows: they all involve a bag of air. Various instruments use a bellows, to provide a constant flow of air. Accordions, some organs, and bagpipes all have this kind of bellows. In the 13th century, the word was belwes, literally "bags," from the Old English belg, "bag or purse."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s 6 a.m., and he bellows for me.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
“Joyful bellows from the fans,” the Chicago Tribune reported the next morning, “drowned out the final horn.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
To learn how to restore his instrument, Rinaudo enlisted the help of a mechanic friend who taught him how to fix all the valves, gears, pipes and bellows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2025
There, a crane is lowering a helicopter onto the huge deck of a ship, as a marching band bellows in Suoyuwan park.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2025
A voice bellows through the door, “Get up. They’re here.”
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
The candidates vying for the seat include Shah, former state Senate President Troy Jackson and Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, all of whom ran in the recent Democratic primary for governor.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
Her 2014 opponent, Shenna Bellows, made the same argument in 2014.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
Tony Bellows, editor of parish magazine La Baguette, said he felt social housing could be improved.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
Ms. Bellows is the author of “American Slavery and Russian Serfdom in the Post-Emancipation Imagination.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025
He said in a pleasant tone, “Why, I know Bellows and Harvey, know them well. I wonder what they want?”
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
