Bellying
adj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A bulging, swelling or billowing shape; the act or state of bulging, swelling or billowing.
"1693, Simon de la Loubère, A New Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam, translated by A.P., London: Tho. Horne, Part II, Chapter II. Of the Houses of the Siamese, and of their Architecture in Publick Buildings, page 32, But the Principal Ornament of the Pagodes, is to be accompanied, as generally they are, with several Pyramids of Lime and Brick […] Some there are which diminish and grow thick again four or five times in their heighth, so that the Profile of them goes waving: But these Bellyings out are smaller as they are in a higher part of the Pyramid."
- 1 present participle and gerund of belly form-of, gerund, participle, present
- 1 Bulging or billowing. not-comparable
"Did it change into the cry of the wind, plaintive at first, angrily shrill as it freshened, rising to a tearing whistle, sinking to a musical trickle of air from the leech of the bellying sail?"
- 1 curving outward wordnet
Example
More examples""So saying, his mighty spear, with all his force, / full at the flank against the ribs he drave, / and pierced the bellying framework of the horse. / Quivering, it stood; the hollow chambers gave / a groan, that echoed from the womb's dark cave.""
Etymology
By surface analysis, belly + -ing.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.