adj. 1. belonging to a period before a war, especially the American Civil War. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A bar to which heavy discs are attached at each end; -- it is used for weightlifting exercises. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ See 1st Barb. ] (Bot.) Having short, stiff hairs, often barbed at the point. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Barbellate with diminutive hairs or barbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a protruding potbelly caused by excessive drinking of beer.
Syn. -- beer gut. [ PJC ]

In one of the less surprising revelations of the year, researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and colleagues have confirmed that excessive consumption of beer can lead to the condition commonly known as beer belly. At the same time, however, they discovered that, beyond aesthetic concerns, the condition may point to health hazards of a more serious nature. In a comparison of beer drinkers and wine drinkers, the scientists found that beer tends to build a central paunch, or “potbelly”, while wine drinkers tend to have narrower waists, even when the same amount of alcohol and calories is consumed by both. The Scientist -- December 11, 1995.

n. [ AS. belle, fr. bellan to bellow. See Bellow. ] 1. A hollow metallic vessel, usually shaped somewhat like a cup with a flaring mouth, containing a clapper or tongue, and giving forth a ringing sound on being struck. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Bells have been made of various metals, but the best have always been, as now, of an alloy of copper and tin. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Liberty Bell, the famous bell of the Philadelphia State House, which rang when the Continental Congress declared the Independence of the United States, in 1776. It had been cast in 1753, and upon it were the words “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, to all the inhabitants thereof.” [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A hollow perforated sphere of metal containing a loose ball which causes it to sound when moved. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Anything in the form of a bell, as the cup or corol of a flower. “In a cowslip's bell I lie.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Arch.) That part of the capital of a column included between the abacus and neck molding; also used for the naked core of nearly cylindrical shape, assumed to exist within the leafage of a capital. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. (Naut.) The strikes of the bell which mark the time; or the time so designated. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ On shipboard, time is marked by a bell, which is struck eight times at 4, 8, and 12 o'clock. Half an hour after it has struck “eight bells” it is struck once, and at every succeeding half hour the number of strokes is increased by one, till at the end of the four hours, which constitute a watch, it is struck eight times. [ 1913 Webster ]

To bear away the bell, to win the prize at a race where the prize was a bell; hence, to be superior in something. Fuller. --
To bear the bell, to be the first or leader; -- in allusion to the bellwether or a flock, or the leading animal of a team or drove, when wearing a bell. --
To curse by bell,
book,
and candle, a solemn form of excommunication used in the Roman Catholic church, the bell being tolled, the book of offices for the purpose being used, and three candles being extinguished with certain ceremonies. Nares. --
To lose the bell, to be worsted in a contest. “In single fight he lost the bell.” Fairfax. --
To shake the bells, to move, give notice, or alarm. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Bell is much used adjectively or in combinations; as, bell clapper; bell foundry; bell hanger; bell-mouthed; bell tower, etc., which, for the most part, are self-explaining. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bell arch (Arch.), an arch of unusual form, following the curve of an ogee. --
Bell cage, or
Bell carriage (Arch.), a timber frame constructed to carry one or more large bells. --
Bell cot (Arch.), a small or subsidiary construction, frequently corbeled out from the walls of a structure, and used to contain and support one or more bells. --
Bell deck (Arch.), the floor of a belfry made to serve as a roof to the rooms below. --
Bell founder, one whose occupation it is to found or cast bells. --
Bell foundry, or
Bell foundery, a place where bells are founded or cast. --
Bell gable (Arch.), a small gable-shaped construction, pierced with one or more openings, and used to contain bells. --
Bell glass. See Bell jar. --
Bell hanger, a man who hangs or puts up bells. --
Bell pull, a cord, handle, or knob, connecting with a bell or bell wire, and which will ring the bell when pulled. Aytoun. --
Bell punch, a kind of conductor's punch which rings a bell when used. --
Bell ringer, one who rings a bell or bells, esp. one whose business it is to ring a church bell or chime, or a set of musical bells for public entertainment. --
Bell roof (Arch.), a roof shaped according to the general lines of a bell. --
Bell rope, a rope by which a church or other bell is rung. --
Bell tent, a circular conical-topped tent. --
Bell trap, a kind of bell shaped stench trap. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Belled p. pr. & vb. n. Belling. ] To put a bell upon; as, to bell the cat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make bell-mouthed; as, to bell a tube. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To develop bells or corollas; to take the form of a bell; to blossom; as, hops bell. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ AS. bellan. See Bellow. ] To utter by bellowing. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To call or bellow, as the deer in rutting time; to make a bellowing sound; to roar. [ 1913 Webster ]

As loud as belleth wind in hell. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wild buck bells from ferny brake. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ It., literally fine lady; bella beautiful + donna lady. ] (Bot.) (a) An herbaceous European plant (Atropa belladonna) with reddish bell-shaped flowers and shining black berries. The whole plant and its fruit are very poisonous, and the root and leaves are used as powerful medicinal agents. Its properties are largely due to the alkaloid atropine which it contains. Called also deadly nightshade. (b) A species of Amaryllis (Amaryllis belladonna); the belladonna lily. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) An infusorian of the family Vorticellidæ, common in fresh-water ponds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A stoneware jug of a pattern originated in the neighborhood of Cologne, Germany, in the 16th century. It has a bearded face or mask supposed to represent Cardinal Bellarmine, a leader in the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation, following the Reformation; -- called also graybeard, longbeard. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Zool.) A Brazilian leaf hopper (Bocydium tintinnabuliferum), remarkable for the four bell-shaped appendages of its thorax. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ So called from their notes. ] (Zool.) (a) A South and Central American bird of the genus Casmarhincos, and family Cotingidæ, of several species; the campanero. (b) The Myzantha melanophrys of Australia. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having legs that flare at the bottom; -- of trousers. bell-bottomed trousers [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. trousers with legs that flare; commonly worn as part of a sailor's uniform; -- such absurdly wide hems were also fashionable in the 1960s.
Syn. -- bellbottom trousers. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. someone employed as an errand boy and luggage carrier around hotels.
Syn. -- bellman, bellhop. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

A lever whose two arms form a right angle, or nearly a right angle, having its fulcrum at the apex of the angle. It is used in bell pulls and in changing the direction of bell wires at angles of rooms, etc., and also in machinery. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. belle, fem. of bel, beau, beautiful, fine. See Beau. ] A young lady of superior beauty and attractions; a handsome lady, or one who attracts notice in society; a fair lady. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Hung with a bell or bells. [ 1913 Webster ]

A porcelainlike kind of decorative pottery with a high gloss, which is sometimes iridescent. A very fine kind is made at Belleek in Ireland. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. One versed in belles-lettres. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Paleon.) A genus of fossil univalve shells, believed to belong to the Heteropoda, peculiar to the Paleozoic age. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ F. ] Polite or elegant literature; the humanities; -- used somewhat vaguely for literary works in which imagination and taste are predominant. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Occupied with, or pertaining to, belles-lettres. “An unlearned, belletristic trifler.” M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the striking surface convex; -- said of hammers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Campanula; -- so named from its bell-shaped flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bellefleur, lit., beautiful flower. ] A kind of apple. The yellow bellflower is a large, yellow winter apple. [ Written also bellefleur. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. belle et bonne, beautiful and good. ] A woman excelling both in beauty and goodness; a fair maid. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. bellicus. See Bellicose. ] Of or pertaining to war; warlike; martial. [ Obs. ] “Bellic Cæsar.” Feltham. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. bellicosus, fr. bellicus of war, fr. bellum war. See Duel. ] Inclined to war or contention; warlike; pugnacious. [ 1913 Webster ]

Arnold was, in fact, in a bellicose vein. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a bellicose manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Bellicose. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having (such) a belly; puffed out; -- used in composition; as, pot-bellied; shad-bellied. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. The quality of being belligerent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. the act or state of being engaged in war or a warlike conflict; warfare.
Syn. -- hostilities. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. an aggressively hostile or warlike attitude or nature; a readiness to fight or offend, with little or no provocation. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

a. [ L. bellum war + gerens, -entis, waging, p. pr. of gerere to wage: cf. F. belligérant. See Bellicose, Jest. ] 1. Waging war; carrying on war. “Belligerent powers.” E. Everett. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Pertaining, or tending, to war; of or relating to belligerents; as, a belligerent tone; belligerent rights. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A nation or state recognized as carrying on war; a person engaged in warfare. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a belligerent manner; hostilely. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Bell to bellow. ] A bellowing, as of a deer in rutting time. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. bellipotens; bellum war + potens powerful, p. pr. of posse to be able. ] Mighty in war; armipotent. [ R. ] Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Phys.) A glass vessel, varying in size, open at the bottom and closed at the top like a bell, and having a knob or handle at the top for lifting it. It is used for a great variety of purposes; as, with the air pump, and for holding gases, also for keeping the dust from articles exposed to view. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A man who rings a bell, especially to give notice of anything in the streets. Formerly, also, a night watchman who called the hours. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

A hard alloy or bronze, consisting usually of about three parts of copper to one of tin; -- used for making bells. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bell metal ore, a sulphide of tin, copper, and iron; the mineral stannite. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Expanding at the mouth; as, a bell-mouthed gun. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lead colic. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., from bellum war. ] (Rom. Myth.) The goddess of war. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Bellowed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Bellowing. ] [ OE. belwen, belowen, AS. bylgean, fr. bellan; akin to G. bellen, and perh. to L. flere to weep, OSlav. bleja to bleat, Lith. balsas voice. Cf. Bell, n. & v., Bawl, Bull. ] 1. To make a hollow, loud noise, as an enraged bull. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bowl; to vociferate; to clamor. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To roar; as the sea in a tempest, or as the wind when violent; to make a loud, hollow, continued sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bellowing voice of boiling seas. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To emit with a loud voice; to shout; -- used with out. “Would bellow out a laugh.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A loud resounding outcry or noise, as of an enraged bull; a roar. [ 1913 Webster ]