bellyache

[bel-ee-eyk]

noun

1. a pain in the abdomen or bowels.

verb (used without object)

bellyached, bellyaching 

1. to complain; grumble.

bellyache

/ ˈbɛlɪˌeɪk /

noun

1. an informal term for stomachache

verb

1. slang,  (intr) to complain repeatedly

Other Word Forms

• bellyacher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bellyache¹

belly + ache; bellyache def. 1 was first recorded in 1545–55, and bellyache def. 2, an Americanism, in 1885–90

Example Sentences

“Enough bellyaching. There’s work to be done,” he grumbled.

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All this yelling and bellyaching serves a pragmatic purpose: to distract from how what they're saying makes no sense.

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But Specktor is trying to do something subtler and more slippery than cataloging boldfaced names and bellyaching about how commerce has strangled art.

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"They are crybabies of the highest order," she notes, bellyaching non-stop because liberals continue to hold them in contempt.

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Who else but a bunch of losers has the time to sit around on Twitter bellyaching about the imaginary lives of bureaucrats?

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