belly
belly
noun
/ˈbeli/
(plural bellies)
​1. the part of the body below the chest
synonym stomach, gut
They crawled along on their bellies.
see also beer belly, pot belly
The baby rolled on to her belly.
I filled my belly with a sausage sandwich.
She felt the child in her belly kick.
Topics Body C1
Collocations
adjective
empty
full
flat
verb + belly
pat
rub
scratch
belly + verb
bulge
hang
swell
preposition
in somebody’s belly
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
Word Origin
Old English belig ‘bag’, of Germanic origin, from a base meaning ‘swell, be inflated’.
Idioms
fire in one's belly
go belly up