Bel"ly (b&ebreve;l"l&ybreve;), n.; pl.
Bellies (-l&ibreve;z). [OE. bali, bely, AS.
belg, bælg, bælig, bag, bellows, belly;
akin to Icel. belgr bag, bellows, Sw. bälg, Dan.
bælg, 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.
&fist; 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.
Bel"ly, v. t. [imp. & p. p.
Bellied (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Bellying.]
To cause to swell out; to fill. [R.]
Your breath of full consent bellied his sails.
Shak.
Bel"ly, v. i. To swell and become
protuberant, like the belly; to bulge.
The bellying canvas strutted with the gale.
Dryden.
