belly (redirected from bellying)

A growing youth has a wolf in his belly.

Prov. Young people who are growing fast are hungry all the time. If you doubt that a growing youth has a wolf in his belly, you should see how much my fourteen-year-old cousin eats.

See also: grow, has, his, wolf, youth

air one's belly

Fig. Sl. to empty one's stomach; to vomit. I had a bad case of food poisoning and was airing my belly for most of the night.

See also: air

belly out

[for a sheet of fabric, such as a ship's sail] to fill out in the wind. The sails bellied out as the ship turned to catch the wind. When the sails bellied out, we began to move forward.

See also: out

belly up 

1. intoxicated by alcohol. Fred was boiled—belly up—glassy-eyed. After four beers, I was belly up, for sure.

2. Sl. (of a business) bankrupt; dead. (Like a dead fish that floats belly up.) That's the end. This company is belly up. After the fire the firm went belly up.

See also: up

belly up (to something)

to move up to something, often a bar. (Usually in reference to nudging one's way to a bar.) The man swaggered in and bellied up to the counter and demanded my immediate attention. As he bellied up, he said, "Do you know who I am?"

See also: up

have a yellow belly and have a yellow streak down one's back

Fig. to be cowardly. Tex has a yellow streak down his back a mile wide. He's afraid to cross the street!

See also: have, yellow

turn belly up and go belly up 

1. Sl to fail. (See also turn turtle.)—I sort of felt that the whole thing would go belly up, and I was right. The computer—on its last legs anyway—turned belly up right in the middle of an important job.

2. Sl. to die. (As a fish does when it dies.) The cat was acting strangely for a while before she turned belly up. Every fish in Greg's tank went belly up last night.

See also: turn, up

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somebody's eyes are bigger than their belly/stomach  (humorous)

something that you say when someone has taken more food than they can eat I can't finish this piece of cake. I'm afraid my eyes were bigger than my stomach as usual.

See also: big, eye

a belly laugh

a loud laugh which cannot be controlled It's not often you hear the kind of jokes that give you a real belly laugh.

See also: laugh

fire in your/the belly

if you have fire in your belly, you are ready to fight with energy and determination for what you believe is right He will approach the committee with plenty of fire in his belly.

See also: fire

go belly up  (informal)

if a business goes belly up, it fails Factories and farms went belly up because of the debt crisis.

See also: up

yellow-bellied  (old-fashioned)

a yellow-bellied person is not at all brave You're a load of yellow-bellied fools, too frightened to stand up for what you believe in!

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go belly up

to fail My company announced layoffs, so I found another job, and then my new company went belly up.

Usage notes: usually said about business and other organizations

Etymology: based on the idea of a dead animal found lying on its back, with its belly (stomach) facing up

See also: up