as in coming up
to come near or nearer
belly up to the buffet table and help yourselves
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bellying up
Once called ''the funniest woman on TV,'' Catherine O'Hara spends much of her time these days bellying up against a snooker table at the Squeeze Club, a Toronto juice bar and pool hall.
—
Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 31 Jan. 2026
Across the river, Le Crocodile at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn brings a stylish, approachable scene for bellying up and indulging in sexy French cuisine.
—Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026
Swashbucklers, scoundrels, bandits and buccaneers will soon be bellying up to the bar inside a lively new pirate pub at Walt Disney World that’s already booked solid for the first two months and promises to be a must-have reservation for visitors.
—Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 29 Aug. 2025
Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 31 Jan. 2026
Across the river, Le Crocodile at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn brings a stylish, approachable scene for bellying up and indulging in sexy French cuisine.
—Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026
Swashbucklers, scoundrels, bandits and buccaneers will soon be bellying up to the bar inside a lively new pirate pub at Walt Disney World that’s already booked solid for the first two months and promises to be a must-have reservation for visitors.
—Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bellying up
Verb
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When Lorne Michaels began putting together a live Saturday night sketch show, Chase’s name kept coming up.—
Madeleine Marr,
Miami Herald,
20 Feb. 2026
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Part of parenting is coming up with creative ways of tackling mundane problems.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Many of these projects originate from filmmakers who are new to Canada, or from second‑ and third‑generation auteurs with immigrant roots drawing on their families’ journeys to — and through — new countries.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Feb. 2026
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As both local and federal authorities scour Guthrie's property and nearby areas for evidence, agents are drawing on physical, digital and biological tools.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
16 Feb. 2026
Verb
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With Kyiv under heavy bombardment and Russia closing in, European leaders feared the worst.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
20 Feb. 2026
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Anthropic’s Claude has taken off in the enterprise while OpenAI’s ChatGPT has hit big with the masses, closing in on a billion users.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The grainy video shows a man in a ski mask approaching Guthrie’s front door and attempting to cover her doorbell camera with a gloved hand.—
Chelsea Bailey,
CNN Money,
20 Feb. 2026
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Instead of approaching concept artists with vague direction, Rune Entertainment’s process is structured to deliver precise briefs rooted in narrative intent and visual logic.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Obviously, this development is bad for Illinois, especially the northwest suburbs of Chicagoland, which loses tax revenue and fun action aplenty, and the optics of not closing the deal also reflects poorly on Pritzker and might well haunt his presidential bid.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Feb. 2026
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Women's clothing boutique Francesca’s is beginning store-closing sales nationwide after filing for bankruptcy earlier this month.—
Cailey Gleeson,
jsonline.com,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Mayweather has fought in eight exhibition matches since, the last one coming against John Gotti III — the grandson of infamous mob boss John Gotti — in Mexico City in August 2024.—
Matt Schubert,
New York Times,
21 Feb. 2026
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Canada, the favorite coming into the Olympics, have now struggled in two consecutive games.—
Becky Sullivan,
NPR,
20 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bellying up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bellying%20up. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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