belly
Americannoun
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bellies
plural
-
the front or under part of a vertebrate body from the breastbone to the pelvis, containing the abdominal viscera; the abdomen.
-
the stomach with its adjuncts.
-
appetite or capacity for food; gluttony.
-
the womb.
-
the inside or interior of anything.
the belly of a ship.
-
a protuberant or bulging surface of anything.
the belly of a flask.
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Anatomy. the fleshy part of a muscle.
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the front, inner, or under surface or part, as distinguished from the back.
-
the front surface of a violin or similar instrument.
-
a bulge on a vertical surface of fresh concrete.
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the underpart of the fuselage of an airplane.
verb (used with object)
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bellies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bellied,
past participle, past
-
bellying
present participle
verb (used without object)
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bellies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bellied,
past participle, past
-
bellying
present participle
-
to swell out.
Sails bellying in the wind.
-
to crawl on one's belly.
soldiers bellying through a rice paddy.
verb phrase
idioms
noun
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the lower or front part of the body of a vertebrate, containing the intestines and other abdominal organs; abdomen
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the stomach, esp when regarded as the seat of gluttony
-
a part, line, or structure that bulges deeply
the belly of a sail
-
the inside or interior cavity of something
the belly of a ship
-
the front or inner part or underside of something
-
the surface of a stringed musical instrument over which the strings are stretched
-
the thick central part of certain muscles
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the wool from a sheep's belly
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tanning the portion of a hide or skin on the underpart of an animal
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archery the surface of the bow next to the bowstring
-
archaic the womb
-
informal to die, fail, or come to an end
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bellysimple
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belliessimple
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have belliedperfect
-
has belliedperfect
-
am bellyingprogressive
-
are bellyingprogressive
-
is bellyingprogressive
-
have been bellyingperfect progressive
-
has been bellyingperfect progressive
Past
-
belliedsimple
-
had belliedperfect
-
was bellyingprogressive
-
were bellyingprogressive
-
had been bellyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of belly
before 950; Middle English bely, Old English belig, belg bag, skin; cognate with German Balg, Gothic balgs, Old Norse belgr sack; akin to Welsh bol ( a ), boly, Irish bolg sack, belly, bellows, Serbo-Croatian blàzina, Latvian pabàlsts, Avestan barəziš-, Persian bālish cushion
Explanation
Your belly is your stomach. If you have a belly ache, you have a pain in your abdomen. Santa Claus is famous for his jolly laugh and his large belly. The word belly is a more casual way to say "stomach" or "abdomen," just as your navel is informally called a "belly button." A less common way to use the word is as a verb meaning "to swell," which is actually the oldest meaning of belly, from the Old English belig, "bag," and a Germanic root meaning "to swell like a bag."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Baby Theo, who is now five months old and thriving, had gastroschisis, where the belly button does not develop properly, causing the intestines to grow externally.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
As in all things, Falstaff is led by his belly, a gargantuan metaphor for his gluttonous nature.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
“I know what it’s like to be the kid whose belly is full thanks to food stamps,” he said.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
But those who bought them at high prices had to suffer as their value went belly up, part of a wider crash in crypto.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Mr. Lew, with his stout belly straining against the frog knots of his long changshan, listened with an amused smirk as Ba rattled off concerns about the store.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
"This is the first evidence that our bellies expand with age due to the APCs' high output of new fat cells."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 27, 2026
To test the observation, they strapped pressure sensors around the bellies of lightly anesthetized mice and observed the brain when slight pressure was applied only to the abdominal muscles.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
It’s when we make it a point to request a complimentary dessert when we go out to eat, regardless of how full our bellies may be.
From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2026
Its sound is like a gaseous rumbling from deep within the earth—or our bellies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
They all slapped their bellies at the last line.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
You can see some of the surprising new finds on the citizen science project Redmap, such as sightings of the tropical yellow bellied sea snake in Tasmanian waters.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2022
Bikers bellied up to bars and packed into rock shows.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2021
He claimed to have not yet bellied up to a bar in New York City.
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2017
During “The Matrimony,” a pliant new song, he bellied up to the conga drums and tapped out a beat.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2015
They wrote their names upon their leaves, fastened them to their breast pockets, and bellied up to the long oak table that served as our communal desk.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
My favorite San Francisco poet these days is August Kleinzahler, who often writes about bellying up to a bar.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2019
The days of bellying up to the counter, flashing your platinum card and demanding a suite are over.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 4, 2019
Overheard from a gaggle of White House reporters bellying up for glasses of cab: “I needed this — it’s been that kind of day.”
From Washington Post ● Jan. 10, 2019
Two weeks after the Health Department delivered it’s verdict, customers were bellying up to the restaurant’s polished wooden counters and booths as usual on Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2017
Quickly she hid three goblets in her bellying dress to carry with her while I tagged along in my bewilderment.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
