belly
The front part of your body below your chest and above your legs; your tummy.
The front part of the human or animal body between the chest and the hips, often thought of as the soft, rounded area that can be seen or touched.
Your stomach, especially when you talk about being hungry or full of food.
The stomach as an internal organ, especially when referring to hunger, fullness, or the amount of food it contains.
The round lower or middle part of something, like the bottom of a plane or the curve of a hill.
The rounded, bulging, or hollow underside or middle part of an object or natural formation, such as a plane, a ship, a hill, or a wave.
To push out in a round shape, or to make something push out in a round shape, like a sail in the wind.
To swell, bulge, or curve outward in a rounded shape, or to cause something, such as a sail or curtain, to do so.
The courage or strong wish you need to do something hard or scary.
Courage or strong desire to do something dangerous, difficult, or unpleasant, usually used in negative statements or questions.
- Base: belly
- Plural: bellies
- Base: belly
- 3rd Person Singular: bellies
- Present Participle: bellying
- Past: bellied
belly button
1navel; small mark on belly
The small round mark in the middle of your belly; your navel.
- The baby has a tiny belly button.
- He has a tattoo just above his belly button.
- Her shirt was so short that her belly button showed.
belly dance
1dance using belly and hips
A kind of dance from the Middle East where dancers move their belly and hips in special ways.
- She takes a belly dance class every Thursday.
- We watched a belly dance performance at the restaurant.
- He learned some basic belly dance moves for fun.
belly laugh
1loud, deep, hearty laugh
A very loud and strong laugh that shakes your body.
- The joke made everyone burst into a belly laugh.
- His big belly laugh filled the whole room.
- It was the kind of movie that gives you one good belly laugh after another.
belly of the beast
1central, dangerous part of something
The most central and dangerous part of a powerful or bad place or system.
- As a reporter, she worked in the belly of the beast, inside the government itself.
- The film takes you into the belly of the beast of organized crime.
- He felt he was entering the belly of the beast when he walked into the headquarters.
fill your belly
1eat until your stomach is full
To eat enough food so that you are full.
- Come in, sit down, and fill your belly.
- They filled their bellies with hot soup after the long walk.
- A simple bowl of rice was enough to fill his belly.
fire in your belly
1strong drive or passion inside
A very strong feeling that makes you want to work hard or fight for something.
- The coach said he wanted to see more fire in their bellies.
- She has real fire in her belly about climate change.
- The speech put fire in their bellies before the match.
go belly up
1to fail completely or go broke
For a business, plan, or project to fail completely and stop working, often because of money problems.
- Many small shops went belly up during the recession.
- The project went belly up after they lost funding.
- Investors panicked when they heard the company might go belly up.
have a bellyful of
1to be completely fed up
To have had so much of something that you are very tired of it or angry about it.
- I've had a bellyful of your excuses.
- The workers had a bellyful of low pay and long hours.
- She said she had a bellyful of bad dates.
pot belly
1round, sticking-out belly
A round belly that sticks out, especially on an adult.
- He was worried about his little pot belly.
- Years of sitting at a desk had given him a pot belly.
- The old dog had a soft pot belly.
beer belly
1Large stomach from drinking beer
A big stomach that some people get from drinking a lot of beer.
- He joked about his beer belly after seeing himself in the mirror.
- He gave up drinking to get rid of his beer belly.
- Regular exercise can help prevent a beer belly.
- Middle age and a desk job have given him a serious beer belly.
- He joked about his beer belly at the party.
belly flop
1jump into water flat on belly
To jump into water and hit it flat with your belly, which usually hurts.
- He tried to dive but ended up doing a painful belly flop.
- The crowd laughed when she did a huge belly flop off the board.
- As a kid, he learned to swim after too many belly flops.
belly flop
2Painful flat stomach dive into water
When you jump into water and land flat on your stomach, making a big splash and feeling pain.
- He did a belly flop into the pool by mistake.
- Her belly flop made everyone laugh.