nombril

American

[nom-bril] / ˈnɒm brɪl /

noun

Heraldry.

the point in an escutcheon between the middle of the base and the fess point.

nombril British

/ ˈnɒmbrɪl /

noun

heraldry a point on a shield between the fesse point and the lowest point

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of nombril

1555–65; < French: literally, navel

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.

The day had been a stupid one in Gotham, and I hadn't enough temperament to light a cigarette, so I simply pressed the nombril button, took my Rig-Veda—a sacred buggy—projected my astral being, and sailed through space to the French capital, there to enjoy a bath in the new art, or synthesis of the seven arts, eating included.

From Project Gutenberg

But Nobody, in one of Cummings' descriptions of him, is "Wifeless and only half awake, cursed with pimples, correctly dressed, cleanshaven above the nombril . . . in brief: an American."

From Time Magazine Archive

Les envieus et envieuses sont en ung fleuve congelé plongés jusques au nombril et par dessus les frappe un vent moult froid et quant veulent icelluy vent éviter se plongent dedans ladite glace.'

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023