Bellow
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The deep roar of a large animal, or any similar loud noise.
"There was a tap at a door, a bull's bellow from within, and I was face to face with the Professor."
- 2 a very loud utterance (like the sound of an animal) wordnet
- 1 To make a loud, deep, hollow noise like the roar of an angry bull.
"the bellowing voice of boiling seas"
- 2 shout loudly and without restraint wordnet
- 3 To shout in a deep voice.
"Then, as the Sunderland fans' cheers bellowed around the stadium, United's title bid was over when it became apparent City had pinched a last-gasp winner to seal their first title in 44 years."
- 4 make a loud noise, as of animal wordnet
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"Do the oxen bellow when their mangers are full?"
Etymology
From Middle English belwen, from Old English belgan, bylgan (“to become angry, to swell with rage”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to sound, roar”), whence also belg (“leather bag”), bellan (“to roar”), blāwan (“to blow”). Cognate with German bellen (“to bark”), Russian бле́ять (bléjatʹ, “baa, bleat”). Compare billow (“wave”), of the same root, also bulge, with related etymology to swelling. Potentially related to bawl, Swedish böl (“bawl”).
Metonymic occupational surname for a bellows maker.
Related phrases
More for "bellow"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.