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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bellies

Belly \Bel"ly\ (b[e^]l"l[y^]), n.; pl. Bellies (-l[i^]z). [OE. bali, bely, AS. belg, b[ae]lg, b[ae]lig, bag, bellows, belly; akin to Icel. belgr bag, bellows, Sw. b["a]lg, Dan. b[ae]lg, D. & G. balg, cf. W. bol the paunch or belly, dim. boly, Ir. bolg. Cf. Bellows, Follicle, Fool, Bilge.]

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

    Note: 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.

  2. The under part of the body of animals, corresponding to the human belly.

    Underneath the belly of their steeds.
    --Shak.

  3. The womb. [Obs.]

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

  4. The part of anything which resembles the human belly in protuberance or in cavity; the innermost part; as, the belly of a flask, muscle, sail, ship.

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

  5. (Arch.) The hollow part of a curved or bent timber, the convex part of which is the back.

    Belly doublet, a doublet of the 16th century, hanging down so as to cover the belly.
    --Shak.

    Belly fretting, the chafing of a horse's belly with a girth.
    --Johnson.

    Belly timber, food. [Ludicrous]
    --Prior.

    Belly worm, a worm that breeds or lives in the belly (stomach or intestines).
    --Johnson.

Wiktionary
bellies

n. (belly English) vb. (en-third-person singularbelly)

Usage examples of "bellies".

Once in a while they can stop themselves, when their bellies are full and their minds clear for a few days or hours, and they know what it is they do, how they live.

Bellis felt the air beside her twitch, disturbed, as the other two grindylow wriggled their bodies, sending a ripple from their shoulders through their taut bellies and down their elongated tails.

Those powries still alive were hiding now, she knew, probably flat on their bellies behind stones.

The crews must take to their oars, and passengers must huddle as deep in the bellies of the ships as they can.

Their blackened bellies had bloated like ripe melons, and small creatures could be seen squirming under their stretched skins.

The swollen bellies of the dead hunters burst wide, releasing a swarm of black scorpions into the meadow.

Far above her, the shapes that she had thought were clouds shadowing the ocean floor were actually the bloated bellies of boats.

Staring over her shoulder, Sy-wen slowly expelled the air from her sore lungs as the bellies of the hunting fleet faded behind her.

The bellies of the boats were now clustered in a circle around the ascending dragon.

Their bellies swelled with the worms until the two brothers appeared as bloated corpses.

Between the animals sinking in quicksand up to their bellies and the men being drenched through with mud, they were in a pretty mean mood by the time they reached the Mexican border.

There were several different kinds: huge black bumblebees, a smaller kind, striped with black and yellow fuzz, and the smooth lethal shapes of wasps, bellies pointed as daggers.

They sat and lay on the earth, grass tickling their chins and bellies, the occasional six-legged explorer marching gravely up a leg or flank.

Their bellies brush the ground, for the pickings are easy for them in this harsh land.

The mammoths gradually became more confident, their bellies filling, and the steady rhythms of life banished their lingering grief over the loss of Shoot.