▪ I. belly, n.
(ˈbɛlɪ)
Forms: 3–4 bali, 4 baly(e, 4–5 bale, 4–6 bely, (5 bylly), 6 bally, bealy(e, bellye, 6–7 bellie, 5– belly.
[ME. bali, bely:—OE. bæliᵹ, bęliᵹ, earlier bælᵹ, bęlᵹ ‘bag, skin, envelope, hull (of beans and peas),’ identical with ON. belgr ‘skin, bag,’ OHG. balg, MDu. balch, Goth. balgs ‘bag, sack’:—OTeut. *balgi-z ‘bag,’ lit. ‘inflated or swollen thing,’ f. belgan, pa. tense balg, ‘to be inflated, swell up.’ The same word of which the plural appears as bellows. The sense ‘belly’ did not exist in OE., and has not been developed in the cognate langs. Evidence is wanting to show whether it came directly from the sense of a material ‘bag,’ or whether the meaning ‘body’ (as the shell or husk of the soul) intervened: cf. senses 2 and 3. The history of the differentiation of belly and bellows is complicated. The various dialectal forms of the OE. word were WSax. bięlᵹ, later bylᵹ, byliᵹ, Kentish and ESax. bęlᵹ, bęliᵹ, Anglian bælᵹ, bæliᵹ; these gave the early ME. buli (ü), beli, bali, respectively. Of these beli, bely occurs in sense both of ‘bellows’ and ‘belly’; bali only as = ‘belly’; buli(es) only as = ‘bellows.’ Hence it may be inferred that the sense ‘body, belly’ arose first in dialect where the form was bali, baly, and that this form passed with this sense into other dialects, which could thus discriminate bali ‘belly,’ from beli, buli, ‘bellows.’ Meanwhile the north. dial. obtained the distinction in another way, viz. by the establishment of belw in sense of ‘bellows’: thus the Promp. Parv. has Bely venter, Below follis. Finally the pl. belwes, belowes was generally adopted in that sense, and beli, bely became the literary form for the part of the body. Bally still occurs dialectally, e.g. in Lancashire and Shropshire.]
I. Original sense, in OE.
† 1. A bag, skin-bag, purse, pod, husk. Freq. in comb. as béan bælᵹ ‘bean-pod,’ blást-bælᵹ bellows q.v., met-bæl(i)ᵹ ‘meat-bag, scrip,’ w{iacu}nbel(i)ᵹ ‘wine-skin, leather bottle.’ Only in OE.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xv. 16 And wilnade ᵹefylle womb his of bean-bælᵹum. ibid. xxii. 35 Ic sende iuih buta seame and met-bæliᵹ. c 975 Rushw. G. ibid., Butu seome and metbælᵹe. Ibid. Matt. ix. 17 Ne menn ᵹeotaþ win niowe in win belᵹas alde, elles to bersteþ þa belᵹas..and þa belᵹas to lore weorðaþ. 971 Blickl. Hom. 31 Þa nam he fif stanas on his herdebelig. c 1050 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker Voc. 360 Bulga, bælᵹe oððe bylᵹe. |
II. Of the body of man and animals.
† 2. The body (? as the shell or integument of the soul.
Cf. Ger. madensack ‘worm-sack,’ the body).
Obs.| c 1275 Sinners Beware 199 in O.E. Misc. 78 Hwenne bali me byndeþ And bryngeþ hine on eorþe. c 1275 Death 83 in O.E. Misc. 172 Þenne saið þe sawle..Awai þu wrecche fole bali (l. 83 baly), Nu þu list on bere. Ibid. 137 Li awariede bali [later vers. bodi], that neauer thu ne arise. |
3. a. That part of the human body which lies between the breast and the thighs, and contains the bowels; the abdomen. (The ordinary
mod. sense.)
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 679 Þe brest with þe bely. c 1380 Wyclif Pseudo-Freris Wks. (1880) 315 To breede hem grete balyes. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 30 Bely, venter, alvus, uterus. ? c 1475 Hunt. Hare 187 Won hit hym on the bale with a mall. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 154 The Iustice in faire round belly, with good Capon lin'd. 1803 Bristed Pedest. Tour II. 643 A secret retained four and twenty hours would have burst his belly. 1834 Marryat P. Simple xxi, We must creep to the ramparts on our bellies. 1843 Watson's Pract. Physic II. 342 Organs..in the cavity of the belly. |
| fig. 1677 Gilpin Dæmonol. (1867) 254 [To] go over the belly of their scruple to the performance of their action. |
b. The part of a garment covering the belly.
| 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. iii. i, Such a sleeve, such a shirt, belly and all. 1601 Cornwallyes Ess. ii. xxviii, Our Taylors gave us a little belly to our doublets. |
4. a. The under part of the body of animals.
| c 1440 Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 451 Take pykes, and undo hom on the bale, and wash hom clene. 1535 Coverdale Gen. iii. 14 Vpon thy bely [Wyclif, breest] shalt thou go & earth shalt thou eate. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 514 A monstrous Serpent on his Belly prone. 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4792/4 Two Geldings, the one black..carrying a small Belly. 1862 Johns Brit. Birds (1879) 419 The Common Curlew..belly white, with longitudinal dusky spots. |
b. As a joint of meat.
| 1883 Enquire Within (ed. 67) §1044 A belly of pork is excellent in this way. |
c. In full
belly-wool. The wool from a sheep's belly, of inferior quality to the main fleece.
Austral. and
N.Z.| 1851 F. A. Weld Hints to Sheep-farmers in N.Z. 10 Their mothers do not lose the belly wool, as they would do by lambing in spring. 1900 Lawson Over Sliprails 32, I had just slipped a light ragged fleece into the belly-wool and ‘bits’ basket. 1911 E. M. Clowes On the Wallaby iv. 101 Clipping the belly-wool. 1933 L. G. D. Acland in Press (N.Z.) 9 Sept. 15/7 Belly..(2) the wool off a sheep's belly, pressed and sold as ‘bellies’. 1956 G. Bowen Wool Away! (ed. 2) vii. 94 A bale of bulk ewe bellies can be depreciated a grade because of the inclusion of a few wethers' bellies from which urine stains have not been removed. |
d. Applied to the under part of the fuselage of an aeroplane. Hence
belly-landing, a crash-landing of an aeroplane on its belly without use of the undercarriage; also (as a back-formation)
belly-land v.;
belly tank, a reserve fuel tank carried in the ‘belly’ of an aeroplane.
| 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 50 They saw an enemy plane turn over, show a white, gleaming belly, and drop in zigzags. 1939 Flight 19 Oct. 314/1 A bellylanding can be made without personal damage in almost any reasonable terrain. 1940 R. Hartley Aeronaut. Dict. 16 Belly Tank. 1942 Aircraft of Fighting Powers III. 66/1 The S–OO fighters could pursue them over long distances due to their long range of 1,600 miles when fitted with the external stream-lined belly tank. 1943 T. D. Gordon Coastal Command at War x. 94 The Hudsons..went down to sea-level, to guard themselves from a belly attack. 1944 Sun (Baltimore) 10 June 2/3 Johnson bellylanded his plane safely near the spot where he had seen Allied troops from the air. 1958 Times 15 Oct. 16/6 A Jordanian Air Force pilot..climbed without a scratch..from a Vampire jet aircraft yesterday after a ‘belly-landing’ at nearly 200 m.p.h. |
5. a. That part of the body which receives food; the stomach with its adjuncts.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 41 Heor Bagges and heore Balies weren [bratful] I-crommet. c 1375 Wyclif Epist. Dom. xii. Sel. Wks. II. 257 Þer owene bely þat þei feden as þer God. 1394 P. Pl. Crede 1521 With the bandes of bakun His baly for to fillen. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 1156 Ye have so fellyd yower bylly with growell. 1526 Tindale Luke xv. 16 He wold fayne have filled his bely [Wyclif, wombe] with the coddes that the swyne ate. 1554–9 Songs & Ball. Q. Mary v. (1860) 13 Glade when the may fyll up thear ballys with bennys. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 45 Whan the bealy is full, the bones wold be at rest. 1629 Ford Lover's Melanch. ii. ii, Get some warm porridge in your belly. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 16 He that sows..upon marble, will have many a hungry belly before harvest. 1857 Bohn Handbk. Prov. 70 The belly is not filled with fair words. |
b. Hence, Put for the body in its capacity for food: opposed to
back, as the recipient of clothing.
Also, the appetite for food.
| 1555 Fardle Facions i. vi. 102 They sitte them downe together, and eate by the bealy. 1653 Walton Angler 144 It is a hard thing to perswade the belly, because it hath no ears. 1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade 312 The Labourers or Manufacturers that..wrought for the Backs and Bellies of other People. 1726 Amherst Terræ Fil. 62 The best way..is to pinch their bellies. 1763 Johnson in Boswell (1831) I. 479 He who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind any thing else. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 30 The way to many an honest heart lies through the belly. |
c. The body in its capacity for indulgence of appetite; gluttony.
| 1526 Tindale Phil. iii. 19 Whose God is their bely [Wyclif, the wombe]. c 1538 Starkey England ii. ii. 171 Drunkerys, gyuen to the bely and plesure therof. 1561 J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 37 b, Beastly bondslaues of the bealy. 1837 A. Combe Princ. Physiol. iv. (ed. 6) 120 Let it not be supposed that I wish to make a god of the belly. |
† d. A glutton.
Obs.| 1526 Tindale Tit. i. 12 Evyll beastes, and slowe belies [Wyclif, of slowe wombe]. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 1114 Tributes..by wicked Princes bestowed vpon flatterers and bellies. 1655 Mouffet Health's Impr. (1746) 133 They called the Eaters of it Savages and Bellies. |
6. The bowels.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1330 Þen brek þay þe bale, þe balez out token. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius Ff ij He felt a payne in his bealye. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 92 Good against all pains in the small guts, for it dryeth and stayeth the belly. 1671 J. Webster Metallogr. xii. 186 It doth not loose the belly, or purge. |
7. The womb, the uterus.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 30/1 Bely, uterus. 1549–50 Plumpton Corr. 254 As yet my wife hath not laid her belly. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. v. 41, I shall answer that better than you can the getting vp of the Negroes belly; the Moore is with childe by you. 1602 Warner Alb. Engl. ix. xlvii. 222 My belly did not blab, so I was still a Mayde. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 472 While they smell and taste of their dams belly. 1728 Gay Begg. Op. i. (1772) 75 Why, she may plead her belly at worst. 1853 ‘Stonehenge’ Greyhound 178 ‘Flirt’ ran second for the same cup with ‘War Eagle’ in her belly. |
8. The internal cavity of the body; the ‘inside.’
| 1491 Caxton Four Sons (1885) 173 He braste the herte in hys bely. 1535 Coverdale Jonah ii. 1 So was Ionas in the bely [Wyclif, wombe] of the fysh, thre dayes and thre nightes. 1625 tr. Gonsalvio's Sp. Inquis. 43 Neither hath he any mans heart in his belly, that can without teares reade or heare these things. 1629 R. Bernard Terence's Andr. i. i. 12/1 It made my heart cold in my belly. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) I. 472 Some shallow-pated puritan..will..cry me up to have a Pope in my belly. |
9. The interior, the inside;
esp. of things having a hollow cavity within, but also of other things material and immaterial.
| 1535 Coverdale Jonah ii. 2 Out of the bely [Wyclif, wombe] off hell I cried. 1658 Ussher Ann. v. 78 Out of Scythia, went over the belly of all Asia, till he came into Egypt. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. iii. 164 Speak i' th' Nun at London's Belly? 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece iii. xiv. (1715) 123 Ships of Burden..having large and capacious Bellies. 1832 Austin Jurispr. (1879) II. xlvi. 801 They treat of obligationes..as it were in the belly of the opposite class, or that of dominia. 1884 Froude Carlyle II. xix. 65 A..candle lighted in the belly of a dark dead past. |
† 10. An internal cavity.
Obs.| 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 148 There are hollowe places [of the braine], called ‘little bellies.’ Ibid. 220 Wee divided..the internall parts of the frame..of man into three bellies. |
11. ‘The part of anything that swells out into a larger capacity’ (Johnson); the bulging part
e.g. of a pot or bottle; a suddenly widened part of a vein of ore; the central portion of a muscle, etc.
| 1591 Spenser Bellay's Vis. ix, Leaning on the belly of a pot. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 759 [This muscle] was called Digastricus because it hath two Venters or Bellies. 1625 Bacon Delays, Ess. (Arb.) 525 The Handle of the Bottle, first to be received, and after the Belly. 1674 Grew Anat. Plants i. vii. §12 Against the Belly of the Bean. 1710 London & Wise Compl. Gard. iv. (1719) 62 A handsome Pear..its Belly round. 1747 Hooson Miners' Dict. s.v., Such Bellys prove oftentimes very well filled with Ore. 1799 Kirwan Geol. Ess. 416 Sulphurated Iron occurs in strata in bellies and in veins. 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. I. 711/1 The belly of the shell comprises the greatest part of the exterior surface. 1845 Todd & Bowman Phys. Anat. I. 176 Muscles which have a bulging centre or belly. |
12. A concave or hollow surface; a concavity formed in a surface,
e.g. of a sail.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 443 Citherns or Lutes, upon whose bellies the Musitians played their Musick. a 1626 Bacon (J.) An Irish harp hath the concave or belly, not along the strings, but at the end of the strings. 1701 Phil. Trans. XXIII. 1277 They wholly laid aside the Tortoise shell, and the sonorous part or Belly of the Lyre, was made of..different Figures. 1840 R. Dana Bef. Mast v. 12 To fall from aloft and be caught in the belly of a sail. |
13. The front, inner, or lower surface of anything, as opposed to the
back;
e.g. the front bulging surface of a violin, the inside of curved timber, the angle formed by the meeting of the two lower sides of a burin or graver, the convex under edge of the tumbler of a lock, etc.
| c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Art II. 44 Great pains is required to whet the graver nicely, particularly the belly of it. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVI. 346/1 The back [of the violin] is worked out much in the same proportion as the belly. c 1850 Rudim. Nav. (Weale) 96 Belly, the inside or hollow part of compass or curved timber, the outside of which is called the Back. 1867 Tyndall Sound iii. 90 The two feet of the bridge rest upon the most yielding portion of the belly of the violin. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 143 The teeth of the wheel in passing just clear the belly of the pallets. |
14. In various technical uses derived from the preceding:
e.g. in
Coach-building, the wooden casing of the axle-tree; in
Leather trade, the belly hide of an ox or other beast (
cf. bend,
back); in
Saddlery, a piece of leather fastened to the back of the cantle, and sometimes forming a point of attachment for valise-straps; the sound-board of a piano. Also
attrib., as
belly-bar,
belly-bridge;
bellyman, the workman who makes and fits the ‘belly’.
| 1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 155 The ‘bellyman’ or ‘sounding-board maker’. 1880 Daily News 10 Nov. 3/8 Leather..There is a short supply..of..light English..bellies. 1905 Hasluck Pianos 21 Prick through the belly about every 2 in. with a small bradawl; this will help in putting on the belly bridges. 1905 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 6 May 24536 The sound-board..barred beneath with batons..technically ‘belly-bars’, which strengthen the belly. 1910 Daily Chron. 19 Jan. 12/7 Pianos. Bellyman and marker-off contractor wanted. |
III. Comb. and
attrib. 15. attrib. (often
= adj.) Pertaining to the belly:
a. lit. Ventral, abdominal, as in
belly-fin,
belly-part,
belly-place,
belly-worm.
| 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iv. xix. 473 The lower belly-part of the former fish. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 156 His tender belly-parts. 1748 tr. Vegetius' Distemp. Horses 93 Proper for destroying Maw- or Belly-worms. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1862) 294 The ventral, or belly fins, are either wholly wanting, as in the eel, etc. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. iii. 17 ‘Us must crawl on our belly-places.’ |
† b. Pertaining to the supply of food, to bodily nourishment or appetite, as in
belly-care,
belly-joy,
belly-matter.
Obs.| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. vii. 118 I shall cessen of my sowyng..Ne about my bely ioye so bisi be na-more. c 1530 More De quat. Noviss. Wks. 101 Preferring their belly joy before all the ioyes of heauen. 1549 Coverdale Erasm. Par. 1 Cor. 2 The Lordes souper..was no bealy matter. a 1564 Becon Fortr. Faithful Wks. (1844) 602 This belly-care..is a great temptation to man..when he seeth all things so dear. |
† c. Theol. Pertaining to the service of the flesh; fleshly, carnal: as in
belly-doctrine,
belly-ease,
belly-wisdom.
| 1528 Tindale Obed. Chr. Man To Rdr. Wks. I. 138 Our fleshly wit, our worldly understanding, and belly-wisdom. 1528 Roy Satire (1845) A bely beast engendred amonge the..papysticall secte. 1645 Milton Tetrach. Wks. (1851) 146 Deluded through belly-doctrines into a devout slavery. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. 283 Apt to construe every divine saying in a belly-sense. |
16. a. objective with
vbl. n. or
pr. pple., as
belly-worshipper,
belly-worshipping.
b. locative and adverbial, as
belly-beaten,
belly-devout,
belly-fed,
belly-gulled,
belly-laden,
belly-naked,
belly-pinched,
belly-proud,
belly-sprung; also
belly-like adj.| 1642 Rogers Naaman 219 Children..backe and *belly-beaten. |
| 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 140 The *belly-devout Friers. |
| 1574 B. Googe Lett. in N. & Q. iii. III. 181 The *bellyfedd mynysters that came over, att..a miserabell hard dyett. |
| 1640 Brome Sparagus Gard. v. xiii. 221, I have been..backe-guld and *belly-guld. |
| 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Badger, The other lays Earth on his Belly, and so..draws the *Belly-laden Badger out of the Hole. |
| 1847–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. IV. 486/2 The posterior *belly-like part of the cell. |
| 1525 Basyn 168 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 51 Upstert the wench..And ran to hir maistrys all *baly naked. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Tout fin mere nu, all discouered..starke *bellie naked. |
| 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. i. 13 The lion and the *belly-pinched wolf. |
| 1675 Three Inhumane Murth. 2 Growing *Belly-proud, and Prodigal. |
| 1607 Lingua iv. i. in Hazl. Dodsl. IX. 412 *Belly-sprung invention. |
17. Special combinations:
belly-bound a., constipated, costive;
belly-brace, a cross-brace passing beneath the steam-boiler of a locomotive;
belly-button colloq., the navel (Bartlett, 1877);
† belly-cheat (
slang), something for the belly, food; also, an apron;
belly-critic, a connoisseur of good living;
† belly-cup, ? a cup with a swelling body;
belly-dance , an erotic oriental dance performed by women, involving abdominal contortions; hence
belly-dancing vbl. n.;
belly-dancer;
† belly-doublet, a doublet covering the belly;
belly-flop colloq., (of troops) a sudden drop to the ground to avoid enemy fire; (of a swimmer) a dive that brings one's body flat on the water (also
belly-flopper); hence as
v., and
transf.;
belly-fretting, ‘a great Pain in the Belly of a Horse; also the Wounding, or Galling of that Part with Fore-girths’ (Phillips 1706);
† belly-friend, a parasite;
belly-grinding, pain in the bowels, colic;
belly-gut, a slothful glutton;
belly-guy (
Naut.), ‘a tackle applied half-way up sheers, or long spars that require support in the middle’ (
Adm. Smyth);
belly-helve (see
quot.);
belly-laugh colloq., a deep, unrestrained laugh;
belly-metal, food,
belly-timber;
† belly-mountained a., having a large prominent belly;
† belly-paunch, (
fig.) a great eater, a glutton;
belly-pinched a., pinched with hunger;
belly-roll, a roller with a central bulge, adapted to roll land between ridges or in hollows;
belly-sacrifice, ? a sacrifice to the belly;
belly-shot a., a disease of cattle (see
quot.);
† belly-slave, one devoted to eating and drinking, a glutton;
belly-stay (
Naut.), a stay ‘used half-mast down when a mast requires support’ (
Adm. Smyth);
† belly-swain, ? a glutton;
† belly-sweep v., to sweep (the ground) with the belly;
belly-thrawe (
Sc.), pain in the belly, colic;
belly-vengeance (
dial.), sour ale, cider, wine, etc. Also
belly-ache,
belly-god,
belly-timber, etc.,
q.v.| 1607 Topsell Four-f Beasts 302 Of Costiveness, or *Belly-bound, when a Horse is bound in the belly, and cannot dung. |
| 1934 Kipling in Strand Mag. Apr. 350/1 Why waste time fighting atomies who do not come up to your *belly-button? 1946 J. B. Priestley Bright Day iii. 66 If you'd ever gone to school with your belly-button knockin' against your backbone. |
| 1609 Dekker Lanth. & Candle Lt. Wks. 1885 III. 196 A Smelling cheate, signifies a Nose:..A *Belly chete, an Apron. 1622 Fetcher Begg. Bush ii. i, Each man shall eat his own stol'n eggs,..ay, and possess What he can purchase, back or belly-cheats, To his own prop. |
| a 1711 Ken Urania Wks. 1721 IV. 468 The *Belly-Criticks study how to eat. |
| 1673 Lond. Gaz. No. 764/4 Several Canns, Bouls, *Belly-Cups, Spoons. |
| 1899 Morrow Bohem. Paris iv. 95 The danse du ventre (literally, *belly-dance) is of Turkish origin. 1943 Koestler Arrival & Departure 54 The loud-speakers blared a hot belly-dance with drums and castanets. |
| 1931 C. Beaton in Wandering Years (1961) 217 The wow of the evening was Carmen, the *belly-dancer. 1957 R. Campbell Portugal ix. 192 The lundum..was a highly sensual song accompanied by much belly-dancing. |
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 19 Your armes crost on your thin *bellie doublet. |
| 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 21 *Belly flopping, a term for the sectional rushes of troops in an attack in which the men advance in a crouching posture. 1931 Brophy & Partridge Songs & Slang 1914–18 (ed. 3) 282 In France, whenever one heard a shell coming uncomfortably close, one belly-flopped or did a belly-flop. 1937 ‘R. Hyde’ Wednesday's Children ii. 49 ‘It hurt,’ she added... ‘So I didn't do any more worshipful belly-flops.’ 1945 Partridge Dict. R.A.F. Slang 15 Belly-flop, a landing effected with the wheels unlowered. 1953 R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 238 The nasty expectation of a belly-flop:..the water has become so huge. |
| 1916 E. F. Benson David Blaize iv. 81 A loud, flat smack was heard as he fell into the water. And Ferrers said to Mullins: ‘I say, can your pater take *belly-floppers?’ 1941 Lancet 12 July 31/2 Perhaps the nearest experience that many of us may have had to blast-concussion is the flat dive—the ‘belly-flopper’ of our schooldays. 1960 Betjeman Summoned by Bells v. 50 The belly-floppers from the punt. |
| 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 529 [For] *Belly grinding, bake a cake of Rye flower..and apply it as hot as may be suffered. |
| 1540 Morysine tr. Vives' Introd. Wisd. D viij, Suche as be skoffers, smell feastes..*bely guts. 1733 Bailey Erasm. Colloq. (1877) 346 (D.), Thou wouldst not have a belly-gut for thy servant, but rather one brisk and agile. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Belly-helve, a forge-hammer, lifted by a cam..midway between the fulcrum and the head. |
| 1921 S. H. Adams Success iii. iv. 397 ‘I'm after the laugh that starts down here.’ He laid hand upon his rotund waistcoat. ‘*The belly-laugh.’ 1931 E. Linklater Juan in Amer. v. ii. 376 He laughed, deep belly-laughs. 1957 R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy vii. 191 Sensationalism..is as much without a belly-laugh as it is without bowels of compassion. |
| 1590 Plain Perc. A iij, Old wringers..that fell out at their *belly-mettall. |
| 1654 Gataker Disc. Apol. 65 A man of puf-past, like that fat *bellie-mountaind Bishop. |
| 1553–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 28/2 Heliogabalus that monsterous *belli-paunch. |
| 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Ridge, It is harrow'd right up and down, and roll'd with a *Belly-Roll that passes between the Ridges. |
| 1555 Fardle Facions ii. ix. 200 Acquaintaunce and kindesfolke, assembled together, make a *bealie sacrifice of hym [i.e. devour him]. |
| 1688 J. Clayton in Phil. Trans. XVII. 986 Their Guts [i.e. of cattle] shrink up, and they become *Belly-shot. |
| 1562 Homilies ii. Agst. Gluttony (1859) 300 These beastly *belly-slaves..continually day and night, give themselves wholly to bibbing and banqueting. |
| a 1587 Campion Hist. Irel. ii. i. (1633) 67 Proud, *belly-swaines fed with extortion and bribery. |
| 1638 G. Daniel Eclog. v. 146 Some *belly-sweep the Earth, and some have wings To cut the purer Ayre. |
| 1595 Duncan Append. Etymol. (E.D.S.), Tormen, the *bellie-thrawe. |
| 1826 Blackw. Mag. XIX. 631 A diet of outlandish soups and *belly-vengeance. |
▪ II. belly, v. (
ˈbɛlɪ)
[f. prec. n.] 1. trans. To cause to swell out.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. ii. 74 Your breath with full consent bellied his sailes. 1790 Coleridge Happiness Poems I. 33 Fortune's gale Shall belly out each prosperous sail. 1848 Lowell Biglow P. Poet. Wks. (1879) 179/1 But could see the fair west wind belly the homeward sail. |
2. intr. To bulge out, swell out.
| 1624 Saunderson 12 Serm. (1637) 172 The Morter getting wet dissolveth, and the wals belly-out. 1718 Pope Iliad i. 626 The milk-white canvass bellying as they [the gales] blow. 1775 M. Guthrie in G. Colman Posth. Lett. (1820) 119 An earthen pot that Bellys towards the top. 1883 Spurgeon in Chr. Her. 277/1 Her white sails bellying to the wind. |
† 3. intr. To become corpulent or stout.
Obs.| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (1856) 73 Your hogges will beginne to belly againe. 1679 Shadwell True Widow i. Wks. 1720 III. 120, I begin to belly, I think, very much. 1772 Burke Corr. (1844) I. 381 We..flatter ourselves that, while we creep on the ground, we belly into melons. |
4. trans. To remove the wool on the belly of (a sheep) before shearing.
Australia.
▸
intr.after
belly-up adv. colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
to belly up: to turn over or belly upwards; (
fig.) to fail, become defunct, or give in; to die; to become bankrupt.
| 1886 Forest & Stream 4 Feb. 30/3 At last the fish ‘bellied up’, and then I knew he was mine. 1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §767/11 Belly up, to turn a truck over in a wreck. 1974 Time 18 Mar. 78 Soaring costs..threaten to trim their profits to the bone. Says an official of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association: ‘A lot of boys are going to belly up.’ 1984 Dioxin (U.S. House Comm. on Sci. & Technol.) 98 There is a study underway..of feeding guinea pigs Missouri soil that has been contaminated with dioxin... If that dioxin is biologically available.., they will belly up pretty quick. 1987 T. Wolfe Bonfire of Vanities (1988) iii. 65 If he wanted to belly up because he couldn't deal with his wife, that was his sad problem. 1995 Sunday Times (Nexis) 12 Nov. Sykes and Durie drove for an earlier overland company called Penn World, which bellied up in 1981. 2005 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 15 June 2 The pilot in yesterday's crash..seems to have done a remarkable job getting all six passengers to evacuate the helicopter as it bellied up in the water. |
▸
intr. To crawl on the belly.
| 1903 J. London Call of Wild vii. 220 Bellying forward to the edge of the clearing, he [sc. a dog] found Hans. 1938 Foreign Service Feb. 7/1 You scramble up and over the parapet with your buddies, taking your place in the long, extended skirmish line of grim, silent figures which go bellying slowly forward toward the enemy's line. 1976 Scotsman 24 Dec. (Weekend Suppl.) 2/4 He bellied through the rushes with rudder trailing, and whiskers gathering rime. 1999 N. Roberts Inner Harbor ii. 32 Then he was bellying over the edge again, grabbing for the chain..and swearing ripely. |
▸
intr. N. Amer. colloq. Chiefly with
up. To approach or get very close to something,
esp. eagerly;
spec. to approach a bar in order to drink or eat.
| 1907 S. E. White Arizona Nights iii. 46 You could belly up to the bar reg'lar every evenin', and drink pussy cafe and smoke tailor-made cigareets. 1930 R. W. Service Coll. Verse 187 They signified their sympathy by crowding to the bar; They bellied up three deep and drank his health. 1941G. Schuyler in S. A. Brown et al. Negro Caravan 87 We bellied to the long bar, the five of us, and ordered whiskey. 1992 Tucson (Arizona) Weekly 28 Oct. 3/1 A lot has happened since last..I bellied up to the keyboard to punch out the weekly sermon. 2005 N.Y. Mag. 3 Jan. 25/1, I dreamt of bellying up to the bar at Casa Mono, near Gramercy Park, and hoovering down towers of salty, charred lamb chops. |