Library / English Dictionary

BELLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: bellied   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The underpart of the body of certain vertebrates such as snakes or fish

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("belly" is a kind of...):

underpart (a part lying on the lower side or underneath an animal's body)

Holonyms ("belly" is a part of...):

craniate; vertebrate (animals having a bony or cartilaginous skeleton with a segmented spinal column and a large brain enclosed in a skull or cranium)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A protruding abdomen

Synonyms:

belly; paunch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("belly" is a kind of...):

adipose tissue; fat; fatty tissue (a kind of body tissue containing stored fat that serves as a source of energy; it also cushions and insulates vital organs)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "belly"):

bay window; corporation; pot; potbelly; tummy (slang for a paunch)

Holonyms ("belly" is a part of...):

body; torso; trunk (the body excluding the head and neck and limbs)

Derivation:

belly (swell out or bulge out)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The region of the body of a vertebrate between the thorax and the pelvis

Synonyms:

abdomen; belly; stomach; venter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("belly" is a kind of...):

body part (any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity)

Meronyms (parts of "belly"):

abdominal wall (a wall of the abdomen)

abdomen; abdominal cavity (the cavity containing the major viscera; in mammals it is separated from the thorax by the diaphragm)

ab; abdominal; abdominal muscle (the muscles of the abdomen)

belly button; bellybutton; navel; omphalos; omphalus; umbilicus (a scar where the umbilical cord was attached)

bowel; gut; intestine (the part of the alimentary canal between the stomach and the anus)

hypochondrium (the upper region of the abdomen just below the lowest ribs on either side of the epigastrium)

arteria colica; colic artery (arteries that supply blood to the colon)

abdominal aorta (a branch of the descending aorta)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "belly"):

underbelly; underbody (the soft belly or underside of an animal's body)

Holonyms ("belly" is a part of...):

body; torso; trunk (the body excluding the head and neck and limbs)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The hollow inside of something

Example:

in the belly of the ship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("belly" is a kind of...):

inside; interior (the inner or enclosed surface of something)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A part that bulges deeply

Example:

the belly of a sail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("belly" is a kind of...):

bulge; bump; excrescence; extrusion; gibbosity; gibbousness; hump; jut; prominence; protrusion; protuberance; swelling (something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Swell out or bulge out

Synonyms:

belly; belly out

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "belly" is one way to...):

intumesce; swell; swell up; tumefy; tumesce (expand abnormally)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

belly (a protruding abdomen)

Credits

 Context examples: 

His brow glistened with perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull, dead white of a fish’s belly, and his eyes were wild and staring.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The paw, with rigid claws curving like talons, shot under the tender belly and came back with a swift ripping movement.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Bellying forward to the edge of the clearing, he found Hans, lying on his face, feathered with arrows like a porcupine.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The ACI/Seg rat is agouti in color, with a white belly and feet, genotype A hi.

(ACI/Seg, Rat Strain, NCI Thesaurus)

The brilliant galaxy, known as WISE J224607.57-052635.0, may have a behemoth black hole at its belly, gorging itself on gas.

(The Most Luminous Galaxy in Universe, NASA)

The peak dropped instantly, a great belly of loose canvas floated broad upon the water, and since, pull as I liked, I could not budge the downhall, that was the extent of what I could accomplish.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

There are several types of hernias, including: • Inguinal, in the groin. This is the the most common type. • Umbilical, around the belly button • Incisional, through a scar • Hiatal, a small opening in the diaphragm that allows the upper part of the stomach to move up into the chest. • Congenital diaphragmatic, a birth defect that needs surgery

(Hernia, NIH)

These horrible animals had the boldness to attack me on both sides, and one of them held his fore-feet at my collar; but I had the good fortune to rip up his belly before he could do me any mischief.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

If the boy had replied like Alcibiades, By the gods, Socrates, I cannot tell, his grandfather would not have been surprised, but when, after standing a moment on one leg, like a meditative young stork, he answered, in a tone of calm conviction, In my little belly, the old gentleman could only join in Grandma's laugh, and dismiss the class in metaphysics.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

They live for their belly’s sake, and the belly is for their sake. It’s a circle; you get nowhere. Neither do they.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)