bellows

¹

[bel-ohz, -uhz]

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.

3. the lungs.

Bellows

²

[bel-ohz]

noun

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

bellows

/ ˈbɛləʊz /

noun

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

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

Other Word Forms

• bellowslike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bellows¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of bellows¹

C16: from plural of Old English belig _belly