1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

bellied up

verb

past tense of belly up
as in approached
to come near or nearer belly up to the buffet table and help yourselves

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bellied up
  1. approached
  2. closed
  3. closed in
  4. came
  5. drew on
  6. came up
  7. neared
Verb
  • The golden doodles would always bark when someone approached the house, said Ashley’s father, Todd Smith.
    — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Kaepernick said that amid his collusion grievance, the NFL approached him and teammate Eric Reid, who knelt with him, about becoming faces of a new social justice campaign.
    — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of approached
Verb
  • In early June, the investigation into the pesticide exposure case involving Paola Lopez was closed.
    — Robert J. Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026
  • This was their third location; the others in West Charlotte and Monroe have also closed.
    — Tanasia Kenney, Charlotte Observer, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of closed
Verb
  • The Coyote, known since its inception to be a temporary venture, closed in September after 14 years.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Highway 71 closed in Kansas City The road is closed between exit 3B and I-635 South in Kansas City.
    — Kansas City Star Bot, Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of closed in
Verb
  • That came just a few days after news broke that Palantir had secured a $10 billion contract from the US Army over the next decade.
    — Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2025
  • All five of Bednar’s outs came via strikeout on Wednesday.
    — Brendan Kuty, New York Times, 7 Aug. 2025
Definition of came
Verb
  • Minhaj and Venkataramanujam drew on their own backgrounds for the script.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Rather than writing traditional Broadway show tunes, Sheik and Sater created a rock score that drew on the emotional directness of alternative music.
    — SPIN Staff, SPIN, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of drew on
Verb
  • Lam came up in the early 2000s alongside a generation of New York labels that included Proenza Schouler, Jason Wu, Thakoon, and Phillip Lim.
    — Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • When the Panthers came up empty on their final two drives, the game was over.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of came up
Verb
  • The show sold out and took in $1,517,701, its top draw this season other than the $1,576,984 gross when then-star Maya Rudolph neared the end of her popular engagement in the title role.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 24 Sep. 2026
  • But as the ’60s neared their end, a more anything-goes ethos took effect.
    — Victor Garber, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of neared
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

bellied
bellied up
bellies
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bellied up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bellied%20up. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fungible

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All