TOP

Definition of belly noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

belly

noun
 
/ˈbeli/
 
/ˈbeli/
(plural bellies)
Idioms
jump to other results
  1. the part of the body below the chest synonym stomach, gut
    • They crawled along on their bellies.
    see also beer belly, pot belly
    Extra Examples
    • The baby rolled on to her belly.
    • I filled my belly with a sausage sandwich.
    • She felt the child in her belly kick.
    Topics Bodyc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • empty
    • full
    • flat
    verb + belly
    • pat
    • rub
    • scratch
    belly + verb
    • bulge
    • hang
    • swell
    preposition
    • in somebody’s belly
    See full entry
  2. (literary) the round or curved part of an object
    • the belly of a ship
  3. -bellied
    (in adjectives) having the type of belly mentioned
    • swollen-bellied
    • round-bellied
  4. Word OriginOld English belig ‘bag’, of Germanic origin, from a base meaning ‘swell, be inflated’.
Idioms
fire in the/your belly
  1. a very strong desire to achieve something
    • You need fire in your belly if you want to make it in the music business.
go belly up
  1. (informal) to fail completely
    • Last year the business went belly up after one of the partners resigned.
    Topics Difficulty and failurec2
See belly in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
apron
noun
 
 
From the Topic
Clothes and fashion
B2
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day