belly

²belly

verb

bel·liedbel·ly·ing

Definition of BELLY

transitive verb

: to cause to swell or fill out <wind bellying the sails>

intransitive verb

1

: swell, fill

2

a : to slide or crawl on one's belly b : belly-land

Examples of BELLY

1. <the sails slowly bellied as the wind picked up>
2. <recruits were forced to belly over the obstacle course under simulated enemy fire>

First Known Use of BELLY

1606

Related to BELLY

Synonyms: bag, balloon, beetle, bulge, billow, bunch, jut, overhang, poke, pooch [chiefly dialect], pouch, pout, project, protrude, stand out, start, stick out, swell

Related Words: dome; blow up, inflate; dilate, distend, expand; mushroom, snowball; elongate, extend, lengthen, stretch

Near Antonyms: compress, condense, constrict, contract, shrink

see all synonyms and antonyms

[+]more[-]hide

Rhymes with BELLY

jelly