Green’s Dictionary of Slang

see separate entries.

(Irish) a man whose amorous pursuits are determined by the income of each potential partner.

1980		P. O’Farrell How the Irish Speak English 41: Sometimes a man would feign interest in a girl because she or her people kept a good table. This fellow would be labelled a ‘belly bachelor’.
1997		Share Slanguage.

see under band n.²

(UK Und.) food.

c.1850

Duncombe New and Improved Flash Dict.

(US) a hamburger, esp. when particularly greasy.

1980		Car and Driver 25 53/2: We caravanned almost the entire 500 westward miles [...] stopping only for gas, driver switches, and a blast of fast-food belly-bomber burgers.
1985		on WINS news 23 Mar. [radio] There are even discount hamburgers [...] You can order up 100 belly-bombers delivered to your door for $82 [HDAS].
2000		Grobius.com 🌐 Belly bombers. [...] Road trip, it’s 4 in the morning, you’ve been out all night, you’re stoned on either booze or pot or both, and you are now HUNGRY. There is a roadside White Castle, where you can order twenty of these little belly bomber burgers for about a dollar apiece (they used to be something like 25 cents). Load up, pile back in the car, and you are now ready for the next topless joint.
2006		menu for Mariana’s Rest. at www.eldoradocasino.com 🌐 Back by Popular Demand – The Belly Bomber! One Full Pound Hamburger with fries only $4.49, with cheese only $4.99.

usu. of horses, constipated.

1607		E. Topsell Hist. of Foure-footed Beasts 387: Of Costiueness, or belly-bound. Costiuenesse is when a horse is bound in the belly and cannot dung.
1703		G. Markham Markham’s Master-piece 92: Coftivness, or Belly-bound, is, when a Horse is so bound in his Belly that he cannot Dung.
c.1715		A.S., Gent. Gentleman’s compleat jockey n.p.: contents [...] For Costiveness or Belly-bound.......122.
c.1720		E. Pater Bk of Knowledge 94: For the Belly Bound, Take good Wort, and so much soap as an Egg, mixed together, and give it to the Horse to drink.
1732		R. Bradley Gentleman and farmer’s guide n.p.: contentsFor a Cholick or Belly-bound........340.
1753		Country gentleman’s companion 83: Belly-bound is when a Horse cannot dung.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

(W.I.) braces.

1954

G. Lamming Emigrants (1980) 120: Look, bellybreakers, ol’ man, look the good ol’ keep-me-ups we call bellybreakers.

pubic hair.

1890-1904		Farmer & Henley Slang and Its Analogues.
2003		Richy’s Random Ramblings 🌐 belly bristles.

see separate entries.

1. (Can./US) a cook or steward; a mess sergeant.

1913		S.F. Call 22 June 6/5: Shorty wrote a pome about it [i.e food]. It was entitled ‘The Bellyrobber’.
1913		Omaha Dly Bee (NE) 14 Sept. 13/5: The stomach robber [...] gathered in the wounded birds, caged them in the cook shack, and for many days [...] the skinnersdined on wild duck.
1914		G.D. Chase ‘Navy Sl.’ in DN IV: ii 150: bellyrobber, n. Commissary steward.
1919		Lima News (OH) 5 June 6/3: The steward suspected of holding out ‘chow’ at mess time is a ‘belly robber.’.
1925		J. Stevens ‘Logger Talk’ AS I:3 137/1: A camp cook is [...] ‘Gut-burglar,’ ‘stomach-robber,’ ‘stewbum,’ ‘sizzler,’ ‘dough-roller,’ and ‘star chief.’.
1927		C. Samolar ‘Argot of the Vagabond’ in AS II:9 391: A sheriff who puts his guests on meager rations is cursed as a belly-burglar.
1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 464: stomach robber, A poor cook.
1927		W. Edge Main Stem 104: He owned the concession for the mess hall, as well as for the commissary [...] We called him ‘The belly-robber’.
1928		J. Stevens Homer in the Sagebrush 38: That belly burglar’s so greasy he has to use sandpaper to pick up the dishes.
1930		‘Dean Stiff’ Milk and Honey Route 38: Often a hobo camp cook, or ‘stew builder’ will be dubbed a ‘belly robber’ because of his zeal to save money for the boss.
1938		F.A. Worsley First Voyage in a Square-rigged Ship 242: The steward, or belly-burglar or peapot jerker, and the cook, ‘Doctor’ or Slushy.
1941		‘Soldiers’ Talk’ in Tampa Trib. (FL) 21 July 5/4: belly robber: mess sergeant.
1944		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 26 Aug. 12A: I buy all the chow I can in every harbor. Yet, what do they call me but ‘Chief Belly Robber’.
1952		J. Jones From Here to Eternity (1998) 193: I was acting bellyrobber on one stripe. Only I was never acting.
1960		(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 8: Belly-burglar – same as ‘belly-robber’.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 790: belly robber – A cook, steward, or other official entrusted with feeding prisoners.
1963		L.F. Freed Crime in S. Afr. 106: A ‘belly robber’ is a contemptuous term for a prison cook.
1975		J. Stevens Big Jim Turner 117: The belly burglar, as the crew called the cook, got up at four, and the three flunkies at five.
1978		R. Caron Go-Boy! 269: He was also quick to anger, as one of the belly robbers in the joint kitchen found out.

2. in fig. sense, one who deprives a person of and form of sustenance, e.g. a wage.

1964

H. Selby Jar. Last Exit to Brooklyn 164: [The men [...] became more bitter and cursed the fucks in the company who were keeping them out of work, and cursed the cops for helping those fuckinbellyrobbers.

see belly bump v. (1)

1. (Aus./US, also belly-smacker, -whacker) a dive that knocks the wind from the diver; also the result of throwing oneself face-down onto a sled; v. use in cite 1933 [var. on bellyflop n.].

1906		J.W. Carr ‘Words from Northwest Arkansas’ in DN III:ii 126: belly buster, n. If a boy in diving into the water or in falling upon a sled before coasting strikes squarely on his belly, the action is called a belly buster.
1933		S. Walker Night Club Era 311: [T]he Rev. Christian Fichthorne Reisner had injured himself while belly-busting with some small boys down a hill near his church in the snow.
1940		W.R. Burnett High Sierra in Four Novels (1984) 285: They flung themselves from the high bank violently, some of them taking ‘belly-smackers’ which echoed up the quiet creek.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1970		E. Thompson Garden of Sand (1981) 285: He came down, splat, in a belly-buster on the ground. He was winded.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 14/1: belly-buster disastrous dive where stomach hits water; aka ‘bellyflop’.
1993		Aus. Word Map 🌐 belly whacker hitting the water with your stomach first.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].

2. (also belly-burster) a belly-laugh.

1960

H. Ellison ‘Final Shtick’ in Gentleman Junkie (1961) 20: The guffaw, [...] the belly-burster, [...] the big exit.

3. (US) a large hero sandwich or ‘submarine’.

1981

G.V. Higgins Rat on Fire (1982) 85: I get myself one of Danny’s belly-busters there [...] all them pieces of somebody’s old snow tires and that fuckin’ grease and thoe goddamned canned green peppers that taste like old green socks.

4. a very funny joke.

1986

S. King It (1987) 518: She was laughing the way I always used to laugh with you guys, like somebody had told her the world’s biggest bellybuster.

1. (US) the navel, esp. in juv. use; thus my belly button is playing hell with my backbone, I am very hungry.

1888		S.O. Addy Sheffield Gloss. 297: Belly-button, the navel.
1889		J.S. Farmer Americanisms.
1890-1904		Farmer & Henley Slang and Its Analogues.
1919		in G. Legman Rationale of the Dirty Joke (1972) I 408: That’s not a dimple. I had my face lifted — it’s my belly-button.
1934		J.H. O’Hara Appointment in Samarra (1935) 161: She was wearing a dress that was cut in front so he could all but see her belly-button.
1936		J.T. Farrell World I Never Made 224: He wanted to see their tits [...] and their belly buttons.
1949		H. Miller Sexus (1969) 230: Her cunt [...] was undifferentiated from her toenails or her belly button.
1951		(con. 1910s) S. Longstreet Pedlocks (1971) 4: Some of the ladies [...] show their belly-buttons.
1952		Kerouac letter 8 Feb. in Charters I (1995) 338: Great tits, shoulders, legs, thighs, belly, belly button.
1962		K. Waterhouse There is a Happy Land (1964) 105: His shorts had slipped and he was showing his belly button.
1970		C. Brown Down All the Days 30: Its belly-button stood out on its distended abdomen like knot of wool as Mother washed and powdered it.
1978		P. Theroux Picture Palace 159: Chilly little things that could not qualify as nudes since they didn’t have bellybuttons.
1983		J. Sullivan ‘May the Force be with You’ Only Fools and Horses [TV script] Do you remember that time [...] Trigger put all that itching powder in your belly button.
1990		R. Doyle Snapper 199: Her belly button was like a real button now; inside out.
2000		M. Collins Keepers of Truth 96: Showing the soft distended nub of her belly button like the tie on a balloon.
2009		Eve. Herald (Dublin) 27 July 6/4: She was adjusting a belly button piercing.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1943

H.A. Smith Life in a Putty Knife Factory (1948) 112: He wants a pillow stuffed with belly-button lint.

1. (UK Und., also belly chete, belly-chit) an apron [cheat n. (1); lit. ‘stomach thing’].

c.1566		Harman Caveat for Common Cursetours in Viles & Furnivall (1907) 83: a belly chete, an apern.
1592		Groundworke of Conny-catching [as cit. c.1566].
1608		Dekker Lanthorne and Candle-Light Ch. 1: A Muffling chete, signifies a Napkin. A Belly Chete, an Apron.
1665		Head Eng. Rogue I 47: Belly cheat, An Apron.
1674		Head Canting Academy (2nd edn).
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew.
1703		Hell Upon Earth 5: Belly-Chit, an Apron.
1714		A. Smith Lives of Most Noted Highway-men, etc. I 209: He taught his Pupil a deal of canting Words, telling him [...] Belly-cheat, an Apron.
1725		New Canting Dict.
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
1741		Canting Academy, or the Pedlar’ s-French Dict. 118: An Apron A Belly Cheat.
1754		Scoundrel’s Dict. 14: An Apron – Belly Cheat.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.

2. food [cheat n. (1); lit. ‘stomach thing’].

1622

Beaumont & Fletcher Beggar’s Bush II i: Ay, and possess / What he can purchase, back or belly-cheats.

3. padding worn by a woman in the hope of counterfeiting pregnancy [SE cheat].

1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict. 5: Belly cheat [...] a pad.

(US) a cook.

1911		(con. 1879) Fletcher Up the Trail 9: Mr Snyder discharged our cook, who was a worthless scamp and a belly cheater [HDAS].
1936		R.F. Adams Cowboy Lingo 150: The cook also had his slang titles, such as [...] ‘belly-cheater’.
1944		R.F. Adams Western Words (1968) 17/2: belly cheater A cowman’s name for the cook.
1972		Bercovici & Prentiss Culpepper Cattle Co. [film script] Hey, you old belly-cheaters [HDAS].
1997		(con. 1890s) C. Sierra Old Cowboy and Dregs 🌐 Among all the names hung on him [i.e. the cook], ‘belly-cheater’ was not one of them. The outfit was a generous one, realizing that men work best when they’re taken care of, so the food was provided in abundance.
2002		(con. 1890s) Chireno The Outlaw ‘El Diablo’ 🌐 ‘I better set ’nother steak to frying. You look like you could eat a whole steer, hide an’ all.’ I sipped the scalding coffee as I watched the old belly cheater scramble back to the kitchen.

food; thus belly-cheering, eating and drinking.

c.1386		Chaucer Shipman’s Tale line 1599: For cosinage, and eek for bele chere That he hath had ful oft tymes here.
1549		Udal Erasm. Par. Eph. Prol. n.p.: Onely for pelfe, bely-cheare, ease and lucre [F&H].
1559		Eliote Dictionarie n.p.: Abdomini indulgere, to geve hym selfe to bealychere.
c.1566		Harman Caveat for Common Cursetours in Viles & Furnivall (1907) 32: They bowle and bouse one to another, and for the tyme bousing belly chere.
1579		Fulke Refutation of Heskins, Sanders and Rastel 712: Prophane banquets of bellie cheare for which priuat houses and companies are meet.
1583		P. Stubbes Anatomie of Abuses 58: The people there are marveilously given to daintie fare, gluttony, belly cheere [...] and gourmandice.
1593		‘Philip Foulface’ Bacchus’ Bountie in Harleian Misc. II (1809) 307: The marrow of sweet-souse, lapt up altogether within the crusty walls of paste-royal [...] a world of bellychere was contained therein. [...] In pleasure to abound, That wine and beer, and belly gut cheere, With plenty here be found.
1604		Marlowe Tragical Hist. of Dr. Faustus I i: Thou shalt see a troop of bald-pate friars, whose summun bonum is in belly-cheer.
1613		Rowlands Knaves of Spades & Diamonds 117: Gluttonie mounted on a greedie beare, To belly-cheere and banquets lends his care.
1628		R. Speed Counter-Rat E4: Fill with the cheere / Your belly.
1633		W. Prynne Histrio-Mastix 112: He [Pope Pius II] was much given to Wine, to Venery, Bellycheere and other beastly lusts.
1643		Horn & Robotham (trans.) Gate of Languages Unlocked Ch. 84 821: Good fellows (fellow-drunkards) and pot-companions mind all belly-cheer [...] and gull in (quaff off) the strongest (purest liquor).
a.1656		J. Hall Works V 543: Was there ever more riot and excess in diet and clothes, in belly-cheer and back-timber, than we see at this day?
1822		R. Nares Gloss. (1888) I 73: †belly-cheer. This trivial name for provisions is of considerable antiquity.
1869		Bradford Dly Teleg. 29 Jan. 4/5: One swallowed a prophet long ago [...] But the old bottle-nose [...] didn’t find him very good belly cheer.

the vagina.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

the vagina.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

the vagina; one of a number of terms relating the vagina to an entrance.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1896		Farmer Vocabula Amatoria (1966) 263: Ventre, m. The female pudendum; ‘the belly-entrance’.

(US black) a guitar.

1938		Eve. Sun (Baltimore, MD) 19 Dec. 21/4: Belly fiddle: guitar.
1940		New Yorker 31-45 19/2: The narrator gives the mitten to ‘the one and only guy who had played on my heart strings like a bass-man picks at a belly fiddle’.
1994		C. Major Juba to Jive.
2001		(con. 1940s) S. Lemponen Swing to Bop 64: There was also some enthusiasm for spurious press-agent neologisms, such [...] belly fiddle for guitar, which ‘have seen the ink of print but not the vapours of speech’.

see separate entries.

1. a homosexual man attracted to men with taut stomachs.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 30: belly-fucker [-queen] 1. homosexual attracted to lean, trim stomachs.

2. a homosexual man who achieves ejaculation by rubbing his penis on his partner’s stomach.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 30: belly-fucker [-queen] [...] 2. one who rubs his penis on his partner’s stomach until ejaculation.
1997		N. Barrett Jr Skinny Annie Blues 63: That dog fart sissy Harry Sykes. You know what I’m going to do to him? I’m going to nail a bunch of tacks in that belly fucker’s eyes.

1. (also bellyfull) a sufficiency (the implication is of ‘more than enough’), whether of food or drink or something else of which the subject has lost patience/interest through repetition; often as have a bellyful of.

1370		Rom. Rich. Coeur de Lion n.p.: Richard pays the Saracens their rent; like our ‘give them their belyfull’ [F&H].
1465–71		Mankind line 639: Of murder & man slawter I haue my bely fyll.
1533		J. Heywood Pardoner and Friar Bi: I care nat for the an olde straw [...] Therefore preche hardely thy belly full / But I neuer the les wyll declare the popes bull.
1584		Three Ladies of London II: I could neuer get my bellie full of meate.
1599		Nashe Praise of the Red Herring 44: The churlish frampold waues gaue him his belly full of fish-broath.
1605		Chapman All Fooles I ii: maid: I’ll play no more. lem.: No, faith, you need not now, you have played your bellyful.
1611		Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girle IV ii: Make up the money I had a hundred pound, And take your bellyful of her.
1637		Fletcher Elder Brother IV iv: I’me but a pidler, A little will serve my turne, thou’lt finde enough When I’ve my belly full.
1651		T. Randolph Hey for Honesty I ii: When the purse is full, the pouch gapes; and when the pouch has its bellyful, the great chest yawns.
a.1661		‘The Devills Arse a Peake’ Rump Poems and Songs (1662) 97: But the Army turn’d squeazie and turned their Head, / For they soon had their Belly full.
1675		Head Art of Wheedling 167: He knows how to single her out [...] and give her her bellyful of toying.
1681		Otway Soldier’s Fortune II i: She’s meat for thy master, old boy; I have my belly-full of her every night.
1685		G. Meriton In Praise of York-shire Ale To the Reader: Come buy and read, & laugh thy Belly full.
1706		Farquhar Recruiting Officer V vi: Sir, if you haven’t had your bellyfull of these, the swords shall come in for a second course.
1712		J. Arbuthnot Hist. of John Bull 76: The yearly income of what is mortgaged to those usurers would discharge Hocus’s bills, and give you a bellyfull of law for all your life.
1721		Penkethman’s Jests 100: For all you were so eager to have him, you’ll have your BELLY FULL of him in a little time.
1728		Vanbrugh & Cibber Provoked Husband I i: Ay, ay, they’ll ne’er want for a Belly-Full there!
1738		Swift Polite Conversation 68: Why, Colonel, a Belly full is a Belly full, if it be but of Wheat-Straw.
1749		Fielding Tom Jones (1959) 309: He had received a bellyful of drubbing.
1759		O. Goldsmith Citizen of the World II cxvi 219: I found Newgate as agreeable a place as ever I was in my life. I had my belly-full to eat and drink, and did no work .
1772		Bridges Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) 39: He got his belly full of smacks.
1788		G.A. Stevens Adventures of a Speculist I 249: The inferior set of Pimps, or more properly the Runners to the Pimps [...] tempt them [young girls] by a few halfpence, and the promise of a bellyfull of victuals.
1797		‘T.B. Junr.’ Pettyfogger Dramatized I iii: While I keep that fellow a beggar, I am sure of him. If he had a belly-full, and a good coat upon his back, he’d leave me.
1800		‘Sally in our Alley’ A Garland of New Songs 5: My master comes, like any Turk, / And bangs me most severely: / But let him bang his belly full, / I’ll bear it all for Sally.
1820		W. Combe Doctor Syntax, Consolation (1868) 189/2: Though they empty all their sculls, / Obtain but scanty belly-fulls.
1832		S. Lover Legends and Stories 159: Maybe we won’t get a good bellyful before long.
1834		‘Milk From The Bull’ Black Joke 17: Phelim being no stick, he tipt it her quick, / And gave her a nice belly full.
1840		T. Haliburton Clockmaker III 219: Bunker’s Hill, where, Mr. Slick observed, ‘the British first got a taste of what they afterwards got a belly-full’.
1851		M. Reid Scalp-Hunters III 32: We kin go yonder, and fight them till they’ve had a bellyful.
1857		Bell’s Life in Victoria (Melbourne) 30 May 2/4: Those black thieves have got their bellyful.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor III 388/2: Whenever I had a penny, after I got a bellyful of victuals, it went for a book.
1873		W.H. Thomes Slaver’s Adventures 119: I think the Englishman has got a belly-full that will last him for a month.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 11 Apr. 17/2: However, as no money was to be got, Larry offered Farnan £50 to nothing, if he would box him for a bellyful; only one answer could be given to that, as Farnan has always signified his personal readiness to make a match […].
1891		F.W. Carew Autobiog. of a Gipsey 101: He’d had pretty nigh a belly-full a’ready.
1899–1901		H. Lawson ‘Water Them Geraniums’ in Roderick (1972) 584: ‘What on earth did they let the man hang for?’ ‘To give him a good bellyful of it: they thought it would cure him of tryin’ to hang himself again.’.
1905		L.C. Cornford Canker at the Heart 8: And we what’s been out o’ work, and not much food [...] we has to get into the trench and go a-heaving as quick as a man what’s had his belly-full of tommy every day.
1919		J. Buchan Mr Standfast (1930) 536: The captain was discouraging. ‘Ye’ll get your bellyful o’ Hieland hills, Mr Brand, afore ye win round the loch head.’.
1929		(con. 1916) F. Manning Her Privates We (1986) 196: When I’ve got me bellyful, I don’t care a fuck if it snows ink.
1935		H. McCoy They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? in Four Novels (1983) 8: I got a bellyful of moving pictures.
1939		T. Victor From the Abyss to the Foreign Legion 189: The peaceful villagers tried an attack on our rear. Gosh! We stopped that with cold steel and they got a bellyful.
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 182: I’d had a bellyful of gangsters and muscle men by that time.
1955		P. White Tree of Man (1956) 397: It was not something you could like or dislike [...] I had a bellyful of it, though.
1961		(con. 1890–1910) ‘Flann O’Brien’ Hard Life (1962) 65: I’ve had my bellyful of the ignorant guff that is poured out by those maggots of Christian Brothers.
1962		R. Cook Crust on its Uppers 153: Plinth and his boys had had a bellyfull of us.
1974		D. Ireland Burn 52: She’d had a bellyful of the city in a week.
1981		(con. 1922) P. Crosbie Your Dinner’s Poured Out! 88: Why can’t they shake hands and be friends? Haven’t we had our bellyful of war?
1993		R. Shell Iced 99: Freedom tasted good to Lorraine. She wanted a whole bellyful.

2. a thrashing [one has had a bellyful of pain].

1605		Chapman All Fooles I ii: Walk not too boldly; if the sergeants meet you, You may have swaggering work your bellyfull.
1666		Pepys Diary 28 Oct. n.p.: He says that in the July fight both the Prince and Holmes had their bellyfuls, and were fain to go aside.
1684		‘Letter to Julian’ in Wilson Court Satires of the Restoration (1976) 133: Some say his lordship had done better / To answer Roger Marin’s letter, / Or give Jack Howe his bellyfull.
1765		H. Brooke Fool of Quality I 140: I have a great Mind to take your Nuts from you , and to give you a good Beating [...] If I don’t give ye your Belly fulls, why, then, take my Nuts, and welcome.
1772		G. Stevens ‘A New Roast Beef’ Songs Comic and Satyrical 115: France sent the Brest Fleet, / We a belly-full gave them without any meat.
c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions .
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn) n.p.: Bellyfull. A hearty beating, sufficient to make a man yield or give out.
1798		T. Morton Speed the Plough I ii: I’ll gi’ ye a belly-full any day, wi’ all my heart and soul.
1812		Egan Boxiana I 19: Many a glutton has received his belly-full, and retired perfectly satisfied.
1821		W.T. Moncrieff Tom and Jerry II i: Fighting came naturally like, and thinking others might be as fond of it as myself, why I always gave them a belly-full.
1827		W. Clarke Every Night Book 84: A ‘bellyful,’ is a tremendous drubbing; and a ‘glutton,’ one who can take, it without flinching.
1839		Lytton Tragedy of Count Alarcos IV i: The sheep should have his belly full who quarrels with his mate.
1899		H. Garland Boy Life on the Prairie 143: If they want a fight, they can have a bellyful.
1925		D. Hammett ‘Ruffian’s Wife’ Nightmare Town (2001) 67: He was looking thoughtfully at the dead man. ‘I told him I’d give him a bellyful if he wanted it.’.

food.

1653		Urquhart (trans.) Gargantua and Pantagruel (1927) I Bk I 15: Then did they fall upon the victuals, and some belly-furniture to be snatched at in the very same place.
1813		Sussex Advertiser 26 Apr. 4/2: Here was the most delicious ox, beef, most magnificent hams [...] and other belly furniture.
1826		Bell’s Life in London 7 May 3/2: He is a perfect Anatomie Vivante, and will reqire lots of belly furniture.
1840		Kentish Gaz. 29 Dec. 2/5: The tempting display [...] at the usual emporiums for the supply of ‘belly furtniture’.
1871		N.O. Republican (LA) 27 Dec. 5/4: We say that it is impossible to eat cotton, that belly furniture of this description is rather billious [sic].

(US) hard liquor.

1931

M. Hellinger Moon over Broadway 234: Slip me another shot of belly grease and we’ll all have laughs .

(Aus.) a bad stomach-ache.

1941

Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl.

(orig. US) a small gun that is most effective when fired at short range, esp. when aimed at a victim’s abdomen.

1926		J.J. Finerty Criminalese.
1931		J. Boettinger Jake Lingle 97: The revolver, Roche was told, was short and snub nosed, a ‘belly’ gun, as the hoodlums called it, and like the one used in the murder of Lingle.
1946		R.L. Bellem ‘Latin Blood’ in Speed Detective Aug. 🌐 The dame in question was slowly producing a small but deadly belly gun.
1952		W.R. Burnett Little Men, Big World 148: Arky leaned across and handed Turkey a short-barrelled revolver of high calibre, known as a belly-gun. ‘Don’t let nobody take the car away from you.’.
1952		H. McCoy Corruption City 56: It was a snub-nosed .38, a belly gun.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1975		Sepe & Telano Cop Team 28: His off-duty snub-nosed .38 calibre Smith & Wesson ‘belly gun.’.
1982		Cincinnati Mag. Apr. 59/1: The Mauser is described as a ‘belly gun,’ made not for accuracy but for killing .
2008		M. Ayoob Gun Digest Book Of Concealed Carry 126/2: You look like a scared guy wringing his hands in a body language ‘surrender’ position...but the belly gun is already in your hand, and you’re ready to draw.
2011		Gun Digest 2012 248/1: It was a 44 Bulldog, which epitomizes the big-bore belly gun.

a greedy, lazy person.

1540		Morysine n.p.: Such as be skoffers, swell feastes... bely guts [F&H].
1725		Bailey (trans.) Erasmus’ Colloquies 489: Since then thou wou’dst not have a Belly-gut for thy Servant, but rather one brisk and agile, why then dost thou provide for thy Mind, a Minister fat and unwieldy?
1795		Sporting Mag. Sept. VI 316/1: Mr Bellygut Bonyface [...] who, after a gorgeous dinner, favoured the company with the song of ‘Oh what a charming thing is feasting!’.

(drugs) pains in the stomach that may accompany withdrawal from continued heroin use.

1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 277: Be sure you take a bottle of magnesia at least twice a week, ’cause if you don’t you’ll get a belly habit and that’s the worst kind there is.
1960		(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 8: Belly-habit – the opium habit, which affects the user’s stomach.
1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970) 43: belly habit [...] Opium addiction subjectively centred in the area of the stomach.
1994		C. Major Juba to Jive 31: Belly habit [...] gnawing withdrawal stomach pains from the use of physically addictive drugs.

1. (also belly-shaking laughter) a deep, sonorous laugh; also as v.

1906		Blackwood’s Mag. 328 206: They climbed [...] separately, picking their routes—met and veered away again, laughing a ‘belly-laugh’ out of sheer joie de vivre.
1921		S.H. Adams Success 397: ‘I’m after the laugh that starts down here.’ He laid hand upon his rotund waistcoat. ‘The belly-laugh.’.
1933		(con. 1900s) C. McKay Banana Bottom 107: The grog shop filled with deep belly-shaking laughter.
c.1935		in W.C. Fields By Himself (1974) 154: What was known as a ‘belly’ laugh the first few nights became barely a titter.
1940		in W.C. Fields By Himself (1974) 373: There are no belly-laughs in it.
1952		Esquire June 132: We get a real belly from the opening gag [W&F].
1952		L. Lariar Day I Died 184: ‘Luke work for Masterson?’ he roared [...] ‘That’s a real bellylaugh, Coyle, a real yak.’.
1959		A. Salkey Quality of Violence (1978) 15: What’s going on in there! When since good night prayers include belly laugh and sweet joke?
1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 122: Belly laughs at Jackie Gleason jokes.
1970		A. Sillitoe Start in Life (1979) 54: I held back the belly-laughs.
1982		G.V. Higgins Patriot Game (1985) 72: Without one single goddamned belly laugh.
1999		Observer 25 July 28: A good belly laugh releases chemicals into the blood stream that make you happier.
2000		T. Blacker Kill Your Darlings 57: Although, frankly, one has never exactly turned to Monsieur Amis for a belly-laugh.
2006		G. Iles Turning Angel 122: She [...] belly-laughs as though I’ve just told a dirty joke.

2. a joke.

1933		Hecht & Fowler Great Magoo 34: julie: Lots of jokes? nicky: Full of bellies.
1939		R. Chandler ‘Pearls Are a Nuisance’ in Spanish Blood (1946) 105: The fence gives him the belly laugh.
1952		W.R. Burnett Little Men, Big World 25: The world was a pretty good place after all when a poor knocked-out broad like this could give you a belly. What the hell kind of life could she possibly have? Whatever it was it wasn’t funny.
1969		N. Cohn Awopbop. (1970) 224: They’re the only true belly laughs in the whole of contemporary rock and, as such, are to be treasured.
1999		Guardian Rev. 25 June 12: Unstoppable belly laughs on one page soon make way for pathos and pain.

a chef, a cook.

1795

Sporting Mag. July VI 206/2: The judge [...] familiarly posted into the kitchen to see what belly-patch was preparing.

a glutton.

1539–87

Foxe Acts and Mon. 282: Heliogabalus that monsterous bellipaunch [F&H].

1. a prostitute, a mistress [but note piece n. (1a)].

1632		T. Randolph Jealous Lovers II vii: Come, blush not bashfull bellipiece – I will meet thee.
1658		Mennis & Smith ‘The Same to the Same’ Wit Restor’d (1817) 124: Some one Il’e marrie that’s thy neece / And Livings have with Bellie-peece, / This some call Symonie oth’ smock, / Or Codpeece, that’s against the Nock.
1822		R. Nares Gloss. (1888) I 73: †belly-piece. It is used in the following example [see above] as a popular term for a woman.

2. an apron.

1689		T. Shadwell Bury Fair II i: If thou shou’dst cry, it would make streaks down thy Face; as the Tears of the Tankard do upon my fat Hosts Belly-pieces.
1822		R. Nares Gloss. (1888) I 73: †belly-piece. Properly an apron, or covering of the belly.

a plea, offered by a female criminal facing the death sentence, that since she is pregnant, the law should spare her unborn child’s life; thus plead one’s belly, to make such an entreaty.

1676		Ordinary of Newgate Account 17 May 4: Elizabeth Longman [...] being Convicted, and pleading the Belly.
1704		Proceedings Old Bailey 2 June 4/1: Mary Waters pleaded her Belly, saying she was with Child and a Jury of Matrons being impanelled found her to be with quick Child.
1708		J. Hall Memoirs (1714) 22: The Women have a great Advantage over the Men, by pleading their Bellies, who are then search’d by a Jury of Matrons.
1734		C. Johnson Hist. of Highwaymen &c. 190: At last, when she found nothing else would do, she pleaded her belly.
a.1735		Lives of most Remarkable Criminals (1874) 82: Yet she was very desirous of Life when first condemned; and, as well as Mrs. Holmes, pleaded her Belly, in hopes her Pregnancy might have prevented her Execution.
1741		Derby Mercury 11 Feb. 4/2: Mrs Catherine Evans who was condemned [...] for poisoning her Husband and whose Execution was respited on pleading her Belly, was to be burnt yesterday.
1755		Proceedings Old Bailey 10 Dec. 47/1: Dove pleaded her belly, and a jury of matrons were impannel’d, who brought in their verdict not Quick. They were executed according to their sentence.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Belly plea, the plea of pregnancy, generally adduced by female felons capitally convicted, which they take care to provide for, previous to their trials; every gaol having, as the Beggar’s Opera informs us, one or more child getters, who qualify the ladies for that expedient to procure a respite.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 113/2: Belly-plea, the plea of pregnancy set up by female convicts capitally convicted.
c.1850		Peeping Tom (London) 1 3/3: My mother pleaded her belly [...] being quick with child.
1857		‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue.

1. a gay man who enjoys face-to-face intercourse, usu. between the partner’s thighs.

1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1972		R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words.

2. a male homosexual who opts for face-to-face intercourse; orgasm is achieved by rubbing the penis on the partner’s stomach rather than through anal penetration.

1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 22: belly queen.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 30: belly queen [...] 2. one who rubs his penis on his partner’s stomach until ejaculation.

3. one who only likes partners with flat, hard stomachs.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 30: belly queen 1. homosexual attracted to lean, trim stomachs.
2003		K. Cage Gayle.

see belly burglar

(US) cheating, extortionate.

1919		R. Connor in Kohn American Political Prisoners (1994) 67: You lying diseased piece of filthy scum. You damn lover of stool pigeons and degenerates. You god damn unsophisticated, unprincipled narrow minded cock sucker. You dirty bastard. You lying belly robbing thief.
1927		W. Edge Main Stem 136: My greatest regret on leaving is that I did not kill that fat, belly-robbing concessionaire.
1929		A.J. Barr Let Tomorrow Come 118: We’ll go hungry anyway, you belly-robbin’ bastard.
1949		Power Engineering 53 90/2: After all, why put up with that brass-pounding idiot in the pilot house, or that belly-robbing pirate in the galley.
1951		Esquire 35 70/2: A belly-robbing steward and a no-good chief cook make a horrible combination on any ship.
1983		J. Garland Welcome the Traveller Home 64: The store clerk followed Molly out and demanded the food back, but she cursed him with every ‘Belly-robbing son of a bitch’ she could lay her tongue to.
1993		B. Bailey Kid from Hoboken 184: This is my answer to those belly-robbing bastards.

(US) a dance.

1928		R. Fisher Walls Of Jericho 88: She’s right hyeh at d’belly-rub to-night, big boy.
1938		‘Sl. among Nebraska Negroes’ in AS XIII:4 Dec. 316/2: A dance is a struggle or a bellyrub.
1943		‘Misc.’ in AS XVIII:1 66/2: Belly-rub (a dance).
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1964		A. Baraka Dutchman 34: That ol’ dipty-dip shit you do, rolling your ass like an elephant. That’s not my kind of belly rub. Belly rub is not Queens. Belly rub is dark places, with big hats and overcoats held up with one arm [DARE].
2002		(con. 1940–3) J.C. Robinson Jr in Noyes Laboratory Centennial Celebration 🌐 Each semester the house ran a Saturday night ‘bellyrub.’ I recall a lot of cleaning up and hiding of unsightly items as the date neared.

(US) to dance close to one’s partner; thus belly-rubbing n. and adj.

1964		B. Jackson Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 146: The bitch told of the place where she reached her peaks, / none other than in the dance of the motherfucken freaks. / Say, on the wall was gay fancy trimmin / and on the floor was belly-rubbin’ women.
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 173: Belly rubbing Dancing. Not used in mixed company.
1986		D. Barker Life in Jazz 12: So when the slow drag commenced it was a great act of bravery and defiance if you danced with someone’s lover, and everybody watched to see who was belly-rubbing with whom.
1996		(con. 1927) L. D’ Amour My Calif. [play] I’ll romp stomp and bellyrub till my prayerbones howl.
2002		‘FlyChick’ 🌐 Some of my favorites are: Chris Isaak, Wicked Games – Metallica [...] and John Lennon, Woman (DakotaMike’s personal favorite to bellyrub to, on the dance floor).

the penis.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1896		Farmer Vocabula Amatoria (1966) 46: Braguette, f. The penis; ‘the belly-ruffian’.

see belly-buster

see strippers n.

(US) a large penis.

c.1888		Stag Party 95: Liberal allowance made for button-hole pricks, commonly called cunt robbers, hair curlers, liver disturbers, kidney wipers, belly ticklers, bowel starters, etc.
c.1895		Actionable Offenses ‘The Whores’ Union’ (2007) [cylinder recording ENHS 30188] [as cite 1888].

1. food.

1607		G. Wilkins Miseries of an Enforced Marriage Act III: While you did keep house, we had some belly timber at your table.
1619		Pasquil’s Palinodia (1877) 152: Every Spit is fill’d with belly tymber.
1625		S. Purchas Pilgrimage (1905) 521: They make Florentines and verie good belly-timber.
1630		J. Taylor ‘Great Eater of Kent’ in Hindley Works (1872) 7: He is Popular, a well timbered piece, or a store-house for belly timber.
1655		Mercurius Fumigosus 47 I8–25 Apr. 376: A squirting Night-walker going out on a Saturday late through Shoe-lane, to provide belly-timber against Sunday.
1659		Mercurius Democraticus 31 May-7 June 37: At the 25 shillings in little Britain was made [...] a pudding of 8 foot of very good Belly-Timber, containing 3 pecks of flower, 16 pounds of Plums and 100 Eggs.
1664		C. Cotton Virgil Travestie (1765) Bk I 29: Lay thinking now his Guts grew limber, / How they might get more Belly-Timber.
1696		Motteux (trans.) Gargantua and Pantagruel (1927) II Bk V 520: Fear not we should ever want good bub, and belly timber.
1708		True Characters of A Deceitful Petty-Fogger et al. 16: His Hungry Footmen, who are almost Famish’d for want of their promised Five Shillings a Week, to Procure them Belly-Timber.
1718		M. Prior Alma in Works (1959) I iii 505: The Strength of ev’ry other Member, Is founded on your Belly-Timber.
1723		‘Whipping-Tom’ Democritus III 9: Every Shop which sells Belly-Timber, is haunted by Folks of all Fashions.
1734		C. Johnson Hist. of Highwaymen &c. 232: As Sancho says, No Adventures to be made without Belly-Timber.
1749		Smollett (trans.) Adventures of Gil Blas I 137: I always take care to have provision along with me: I [...] fill my knapsack with belly-timber, my razors, and a wash-ball.
1755		‘Voluptuous Conduct of the Capuchins’ in Pettit & Spedding 18C British Erotica III (2004) 68: It was my Duty [...] to ransack all Parts for Belly-timber.
1772		Bridges Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) 183: They have their uses, let me tell ye, / When timber’s wanting for the belly.
1788		Hereford Jrnl 5 June 4/3: I can assure you our agent has purchased plenty of bely timber for the remainder of the voyage.
1794		T. Dutton (trans.) Art of Cuckoldom 80: Did you want for belly timber?
1802		Tyne Mercury 12 Oct. 2/2: A baker [...] has placed the following couplet over his window:— ‘You’ll fid your legs grow weak and limber, / Unless well prop’d with belly timber’.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1821		‘A Real Paddy’ Real Life in Ireland 161: Brian Boru took good care to have the boat’s locker well stuffed with ‘belly timber’.
1835		Tipperary Free Press 15 Feb. 1/3: Oh! what a scene [...] Bibles kicked aside and damned belly timber! belly timber! shouted for.
1837		Southern Literary Messenger III 86: I say, darkie, the old man keeps good liquor, and plenty of belly timber, don’t he? [DA].
1838		Crim.-Con. Gaz. 24 Nov. 110/3: As to ‘belly-timber,’ the Sunday’s joints served us till Thursday, and eggs and bacon, or bread and cheese, eked out the remaining days of the week.
1840		Worcs. Chron. 4 Aug. 2/1: [as 1802].
1841		Hants Advertiser 30 Jan. 4/3: His son [...] in allusion to an ill-dressed dish [...] exclaiming, ‘Be Jesus, ould boy, the belly-timber has been badly looked after [...] Eh, governor?’.
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 111/1: Belly timber, food of all sorts.
1858		A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 269: Well, he ain’t an out-and-outer [...] but he’s a good-looking chap; and the servant-girls takes to him. He helps to bring in the ‘belly timber’ .
1864		Cheltenham Chron. 20 Sept. 8/2: Having recruited the inward man (you know what Hudibras says about ‘belly-timber’) off we set.
1870		Perrysburg Jrnl (OH) 6 May 4/1: A grotesque fancy has named food ‘belly timber’ and its receptacle the ‘bread-basket’.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1882		Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 1: Belly Timber - Food, or ‘tucker’.
1885		Mid-Sussex Times 10 Mar. 3/4: Almost every malady of the human frame [is] founded on your belly-timber.
1893		Aberdeen people’s Jrnl 22 Apr. 4/4: Wha maun [cud] expeck [...] his teelyour an’ proveeshin merchant to keep hi in thack an’ raip an’ belly-timber for the rest o’ his days free gratis.
1902		Bournemouth Dly Echo 29 July 4/6: The thousand and one malodorous articles of ‘belly-timber’ which go to make up the dosser’s meal.
1917		Burnley Exp. 18 Aug. 2/4: There can be no doubt that what the fat old weavers use to term ‘good belly tiumber’ abouned.
1926		(con. 1825) Exeter & Plumouth Gaz. 16 June 3/2: Homely glimpses of human life [...] lusty hinds tucking away belly-timber.
1933		M. Marshall Tramp-Royal on the Toby 368: tummy-timber, food.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks 7/1: Belly timber, tasteful food (prison).

2. the stomach.

1894

Mirror of Life 15 Dec. 11/4: We don't think any man has much stomach for fight [...] if the belly timber is not supporting the structure, so the black gentleman, receiving some nasty knocks in the victualling region [...] turned it up in the third round.

1. weak, sour beer, often the cause of stomach upsets; thus the stomach upset itself.

1826		Blackwood’s Mag. xix 631: A diet of outlandish soups and belly-vengeance [F&H].
1857		‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue.
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn).
1873		Sl. Dict.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 8: Belly Vengeance, sour beer.
1896		G.F. Northall Warwickshire Word-Book 26: Bellyvengeance. Sour ‘drink,’ as cider, beer.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 25/2: Bellywengins (E. Anglian, chiefly Suffolk). A violent corruption of ‘belly-vengeance’, a cruel comment upon the sourvillage beer of those regions.

2. spirits.

1931

P. Singer ‘The Electric Warden’ Prison Stories Mar. 🌐 It was such a ‘shot’ that Dan did not believe he could have gotten away with it himself. ‘Nice old party!’ he thought. ‘I’ll watch where he hides that “belly-vengeance”.’.

see separate entries.

the female pubic hair.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
2003		Richy’s Random Ramblings 🌐 belly whiskers.

(US) a dive, usu. into water, but also onto the ground; thus belly-whopping n.

1916		‘Gatherings From Newspapers’ in DN IV:iv 305: gut-breaker, n. = belly-whopper, a flat dive.
1934		H. Roth Call It Sleep (1977) 245: ‘Wake up, Kid!’ his sudden, amused hail rolled over the water, ‘’fore you throw a belly-w’opper!’.
1947		(con. 1870s) F. Weitenkampf Manhattan Kaleidoscope 83: Throwing yourself on a sled to force it into a short run on even ground produced ‘belly- whoppers.’.
1953		J. Thompson Savage Night (1991) 105: I did a belly whopper to the floor.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1972		(con. 1916) G. Swarthout Tin Lizzie Troop (1978) 201: He [...] dashed downhill bent almost double and after two more bursts and belly-whoppers neared a stone pile.
1978		P. Hamill Dirty Laundry 55: ‘Sleighriding,’ I said. ‘Be careful,’ Kelly said. ‘Bellywhopping hurts.’.

1. an unmarried pregnant woman.

1816		M. Lewis 21 Jan. in Journal of a West India Proprietor (1834) 124: The ladies who were in the family-way were arranged behind them. Their title in Jamaica is rather coarse, but very expressive [...] I asked Cubina one day ‘Who is that woman with a basket on her head?’ ‘Massa,’ he answered, ‘that one belly-woman going to sell provisions at the Bay.’.
1953		R. Mais Hills were Joyful Together (1966) 54: It was about you’ cousin Emma who married now in America, an’ you bought belly-woman an’ big-water mark.
2005		L. Allen in Penguin Bk Caribbean Verse in English n.p.: [title] Belly Woman’s Lament .

2. in fig. use of sense 1, a cutlass with a rounded blade.

1958

in Cassidy & LePage Dict. Jam. Eng. (1980).

(W.I.) diarrhoea.

1941

A. Mendes ‘Afternoon in Trinidad’ in Lehmann Penguin New Writing No. 6 69: You can’t eat honey all de time, it does gie yuh de bellyworks.

see boys in blue n.

see separate entry.

(W.I., Guyn.) utterly, completely, ruthlessly.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

(W.I.) a very large, round boiled dumpling.

1959

cited in Cassidy & LePage Dict. Jam. Eng. (1980).

to carouse, to eat and drink heartily.

1649

Milton Tenure Kings and Magistrates (1650) 46: Let them assemble [...] each in his several charge, and not a pack of Clergiemen by themselves to belly-cheare in their presumptuous Sion, or to promote designes.

(W.I.) immobile, incapable of movement after a large meal and a good deal to drink.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

a blow to the stomach, esp. one given with no warning, or at the start of a fight.

1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 9: Belly-go-firster — a blow, bang in the breadbasket, at or before the commencement of a battle. Street-robbers hit their victims in the wind, at first notice of their intentions, which they effect ’ere the party recovers the action of the diaphragm.
1824		J. Wight Mornings in Bow St. 31: [He] did intantaneously let fly a right-handed, point-blank belly-go-fister into the bread-basket of the said William Henry.
1825		‘The Nightingale-Club’ Universal Songster I 2: Double-lungs gave him a bellygofuster, Snuffle broke his nose.
1826		Pierce Egan’s Life in London 10 Sept. 677/2: The Bold Smuggler succeeded in plating his favourite belly-go-firster; or, belly-go-laster; or, belly-go FINISHER.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict. 5: Belly-go-fister – a hard blow on the belly.
1842		Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 8 Jan. n.p.: Arthur [...] put in such a belly-go-firster that Barnes went down like a log of wood.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
1848		Bell’s Life in Sydney 18 Mar. 1/4: Solid gave him another ‘belly-go-firster‘.
1855		(con. 1821) Fights for the Championship 65: Jobbing, nobbing, and pinking [...] then giving Gas a terrible belly-go-firster.

(US) sexual intercourse [poss. misprint for belly bump v. (1)].

1902

D. St John Memoirs of Madge Buford 112: ‘I offered to do it [i.e. offer a bed] if they would do their first belly-pumping for your delectation’.

see belly laugh

see play at belly-to-belly under play (at)... v.

see separate entries.

(US) almost totally impoverished, very poor.

1923		N. Anderson Hobo 52: This is a great temptation to men who have been living ‘close to their bellies’ for months.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 146: live close to one’s belly To be poor.

see throw away belly

(W.I.) one’s first-born child.

1954

cited in Cassidy & LePage Dict. Jam. Eng. (1980).

(US/W.I.) to become noticeably pregnant.

1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 224: Two weeks later she went to Puerto Rico where, after a while, she began growing a belly.
1983		R. Abrahams Man-of-Words in the West Indies 68: Those young girls get their bellies / Because they won’t stay home.

(W.I.) to make a woman pregnant.

[a.1661

‘The Four-legg’d Quaker’ Rump Poems and Songs (1662) I 359: She was by thee compelled; / Poor thing, whom no man ever backt, / Thou wickedly hast Bellied].

to have sexual intercourse; thus get a belly-bumper/belly-buster, to become pregnant.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

(Aus.) to be a sycophant.

1999

G. Seal Lingo 127: A person may also be described as having: a [...] belly rash (from crawling to the boss).

(W.I., Gren.) to be very frightened.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

(W.I.) to be absolutely starving.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

(UK black) to have (more than) sufficient money to eat.

2019

genius.com 🌐 ‘Hitting the belly’ and having a ‘full belly’ is slang for making enough money to eat right and live comfortably without financial worries.

a joc. (if slightly coarse) phr. of greeting; often ext., e.g. how’s your belly, knees and things? / how’s your belly off for spots? / ...where the pig bit you?

1971		(con. WWII) B. Aldiss Soldier Erect 93: Hello, Stubby [...] How’s your belly off for spots?
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 107: how’s your bally knees/belly, knees and things? A friendly enquiry about your health. how’s your belly where the pig bit you? An enquiry about the health of your stomach. how’s your big wheel? An enquiry about the health of your heart.

of a woman, to permit sexual intercourse.

1600

Shakespeare As You Like It IIi ii: ros.: I prithee, take the cork out of your mouth, that I may drink thy tidings. cel.: So you may put a man in your belly.

1. to have sexual intercourse.

1939		P. Di Donato Christ in Concrete 52: Between us pigeons – is it true, Dame Katarina, that you once rubbed bellies with the Devil ...?
1960		C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 40: Marsha Lee [...] damned near blew to pieces all the time she and the fence were rubbing bellies.

2. (US gay) to indulge in an act of frottage.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 174: rub-belly (fr sl rub = to commit frottage) one who rubs his cock against another’s stomach until the friction causes an ejaculation.

sexual intercourse.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 993/2: C.18–20.

(W.I.) to cause diarrhoea.

1991		L.E. Adams Jam. Patois 49: Nyam too muh rundung, yu get run-belly.
1995		Francis-Jackson Official Dancehall Dict. 44: Run belly to cause diarrhoea: u. stale po’k wi’ run yuh belly.

(W.I.) to procure an abortion, to terminate a pregnancy.

1995

Francis-Jackson Official Dancehall Dict. 4: Belly [...] 2. state of pregnancy: u. dash-wey belly/to have an abortion.

see separate entry.