bell-bottom

American  

[bel-bot-uhm] / ˈbɛlˌbɒt əm /

adjective

1. Also bell-bottomed. (of trousers) wide and flaring at the bottoms of the legs.

---

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) bell-bottoms, bell-bottom trousers.

Etymology

Origin of bell-bottom

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

But the prevailing explanation is that it started in the 1970s with a group of bell-bottom buddies from San Rafael High School, in California’s Marin County north of San Francisco, who called themselves “the Waldos.”

From Seattle Times • Apr. 20, 2024

The star, who has become known for her love of bell-bottom trousers, also won female vocalist of the year and album of the year, for her fourth record Bell Bottom Country.

From BBC • Nov. 9, 2023

Yet Carl, from flooffy head to bell-bottom hems, is the epitome of soft power and hardened ego.

From New York Times • Apr. 6, 2023

Bean, I was too teenage and image-conscious to wear anything that would have kept me comfortable, preferring my jackets cropped and my bell-bottom hems soaked in salt and slush.

From Slate • Feb. 11, 2021

I paint her in her bell-bottom pants and puffy-sleeved blouse with a halo of flowers and a pink peace sign in her hands.

From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar