3 entries under this word

Belly

Bĕl'ly, n.

noun

n. [A-S. bæl'g, bælig, bag, pouch, belly, Icel. belgr, Sw. & Dan. bälg, D. & Ger. balg. Cf. W. bol, the paunch or belly, dim. boly, Ir. bolg. See BELLOWS.]

Sense 1. That part of the human body which extends downward from the breast to the thighs, and contains the bowels, or intestines; the abdomen.

¶ Formerly all the splanchnic or visceral cavities were called bellies;—the lower belly being the abdomen; the middle belly, the thorax; and the upper belly, the head. Dunglison.

Sense 2. The part of a beast corresponding to the human belly.

Underneath the belly of their steeds. Shak.

Sense 3. The womb. [Obs. or rare.]

Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Jer. i. 5.

Sense 4. The part of any thing which resembles the human belly in protuberance or cavity; as, the belly of a harp, bottle, tool, muscle, sail, and the like.

Out of the belly of hell cried I. Jonah ii. 2.

Bĕl'ly, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. To swell out; to fill. [Rare.] Your breath, with full consent, bellied his sails. Shak.

Bĕl'ly, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. To swell and become protuberant, like the belly. The bellying canvas strutted with the gale. Dryden.