bellow

¹

[bel-oh]

verb (used without object)

1. to emit a hollow, loud, animal cry, as a bull or cow.

2. to roar; bawl.

   bellowing with rage.

verb (used with object)

1. to utter in a loud deep voice.

   He bellowed his command across the room.

noun

1. an act or sound of bellowing.

Bellow

²

[bel-oh]

noun

1. Saul, 1915–2005, U.S. novelist, born in Canada: Nobel Prize in Literature 1976.

bellow

¹

/ ˈbɛləʊ /

verb

1. (intr) to make a loud deep raucous cry like that of a bull; roar

2. to shout (something) unrestrainedly, as in anger or pain; bawl

noun

1. the characteristic noise of a bull

2. a loud deep sound, as of pain or anger

Bellow

²

/ ˈbɛləʊ /

noun

1. Saul . 1915–2005, US novelist, born in Canada. His works include Dangling Man (1944), The Adventures of Angie March (1954), Herzog (1964), Humboldt's Gift (1975), The Dean's December (1981), and Ravelstein (2000): Nobel prize for literature 1976

Other Word Forms

• bellower noun
• outbellow verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of bellow¹

before 1000; Middle English belwen, akin to Old English bylgan to roar (compare for the vowel Old High German bullôn ); extended form akin to bell ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of bellow¹

C14: probably from Old English bylgan ; related to bellan to _bell ²

Synonym Study

See cry.

Example Sentences

The bellow makes the ground shake beneath us.

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“That is what poor people do,” she bellowed.

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She missed the long march from the dormitories to the dining hall every morning, during which the girls bellowed the school song with great feeling and even greater volume, in order to wake themselves up.

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At Cassiopeia’s cry, the snore turned to a sputter, the sputter to a crash and then a bellowed “Blast!”

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“No luggage. There; that settles the matter,” she bellowed.

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