<B>belly tank,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a detachable, auxiliary fuel tank, carried usually beneath the fuselage of an aircraft. </DL>
<A NAME="bellywhop">
<B>bellywhop, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-whopped,</B> <B>-whopping,</B> noun, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to ride on a sled in a prone position with the stomach downward. <DD><B> 2. </B>to strike the water with the chest, or with the chest and abdomen, in diving. <DD><I>noun </I> a ride or dive taken in this manner. <DD><I>adv. </I> by bellywhopping; on the belly; in a prone position. <BR> <I>Ex. to dive bellywhop.</I> v., n., adv. <B>bellywhopper.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="belomancy">
<B>belomancy, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> divination by means of arrows. </DL>
<A NAME="belong">
<B>belong, </B>intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to have one's or its proper place. <BR> <I>Ex. That book belongs on the top shelf.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to be accepted as part of a particular social group. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the world of old Protestant New Yorkers who were well-to-do, if not, "belonged" through their family connections (Edmund Wilson).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>belong to,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to be the property of. </I> <I>Ex. That coat belongs to me.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to be a part of; be connected with. <BR> <I>Ex. That top belongs to this box. Grief has a natural Eloquence belonging to it (Joseph Addison).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>to be a member of. <BR> <I>Ex. She belongs to the Girl Scouts. He belongs to a large family.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="belonging">
<B>belonging, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a being part of a group; identification with others; close association. <BR> <I>Ex. He vacillated neurotically between a need for popularity and belonging, on the one hand, and independence and isolation on the other (New Statesman).</I> noun <B>belongingness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="belongings">
<B>belongings, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> things that belong to a person; possessions; goods. </DL>
<B>belote, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a French card game. </DL>
<A NAME="beloved">
<B>beloved, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> dearly loved; dear. <BR> <I>Ex. her beloved children.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a person who is loved; darling. <BR> <I>Ex. His sweetheart is his beloved.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="below">
<B>below, </B>adverb, preposition.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adv. </I> <B>1. </B>in or to a lower place. <BR> <I>Ex. From the airplane we could see the fields below.</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>on the lower side or on the bottom. <BR> <I>Ex. leaves dark above and light below.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>on a lower floor or deck; downstairs. <BR> <I>Ex. The sailor went below.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>in or from a direction thought of as lower; downstream. <BR> <I>Ex. There is good fishing below.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>after or later on a page or in a book or article: See the note below. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) lower in rank or power. <BR> <I>Ex. A sergeant is below a captain. The appeal reversed the decisions of the courts below.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>below zero. <BR> <I>Ex. The temperature is five below today.</I> <DD><B> 7a. </B>in hell. <DD><B> b. </B>on the earth. <DD><I>prep. </I> <B>1. </B>lower than; under. <BR> <I>Ex. The cellar is below the living room.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) less than; lower in rank or degree than. <BR> <I>Ex. It is four degrees below freezing.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>too low to be worthy of; unworthy of. <BR> <I>Ex. The cheat is below contempt.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="belowdecks">
<B>belowdecks, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> under the deck; in or into the cabin or hold of a ship. <BR> <I>Ex. Nobody is allowed belowdecks without a special permit (New Yorker). The "Forrestal" limped toward the Philippines with belowdecks fires raging (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="belowground">
<B>belowground, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> underground. <BR> <I>Ex. a belowground explosion (adj.); working belowground in a mine (adv.).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="belowstairs">
<B>belowstairs, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in or on a lower floor or level, especially beneath the main living quarters of a house; downstairs. <BR> <I>Ex. Servants were said to live belowstairs in England.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="belowtheline">
<B>below-the-line, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> indicating an out-of-the-ordinary revenue or expense. <BR> <I>Ex. a below-the-line expenditure on aid.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="belpaese">
<B>Bel Paese,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Trademark.) a kind of ripened, soft, Italian cheese. </DL>
<A NAME="belshazzar">
<B>Belshazzar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the last king of Babylon, at whose feast the hand wrote upon the wall (in the Bible, Daniel 5). </DL>
<A NAME="belt">
<B>belt, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a strip of leather, cloth, or the like, fastened around the waist to hold in or support clothes or weapons worn on the body. <BR> <I>Ex. He buckled his belt to hold up his pants.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any broad strip or band. <BR> <I>Ex. A belt of trees grew between the two fields.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a region having distinctive characteristics; zone. <BR> <I>Ex. The cotton belt is the region where mostly cotton is grown.</I> <DD><B> 4a. </B>an endless band that transfers motion from one wheel or pulley to another. <BR> <I>Ex. A belt connected to the motor moves the fan in an automobile.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a similar band used for conveying objects or materials in a factory, or the like. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Slang.) <DD><B> a. </B>a blow. <DD><B> b. </B>a drink, especially of some alcoholic beverage. <DD><B> c. </B>a feeling of great pleasure, amusement, etc.. <BR> <I>Ex. But all the fans got a big belt out of the Brooklyn triumph ... (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a series of armor plates running along the water line of a ship. <DD><B> 7. </B>a strait. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to put a belt around. <BR> <I>Ex. She belted her dress.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to fasten on with a belt. <BR> <I>Ex. He belted his sword.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to surround or mark with a circle or zone of any kind. <BR> <I>Ex. He [the beaver] makes incisions round them [trees], or ... belts them with his teeth (Washington Irving).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to beat with a belt. <BR> <I>Ex. The cruel master belted his dog.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Slang.) to hit (anything) suddenly and hard. <BR> <I>Ex. He belted the ball completely out of sight.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> (Slang.) to move very fast; hurry; rush. <BR> <I>Ex. He sees himself these days as a getaway sort of person, belting off from his Cromwell flat in an Alfa Romeo (Sunday Times).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>below the belt,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>foul; unfair. </I> <I>Ex. The cartoons against [him] are shocking--not as political depictions, but by their below-the-belt viciousness (Time).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>foully; unfairly. <BR> <I>Ex. to hit a person below the belt.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>belt down,</B> </I>(Slang.) to drink (alcoholic liquor). <BR> <I>Ex. "Study hard for what? So I can ride the bar car to Darien every night belting down doubles?" (New Yorker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>belt out,</B> </I>(Slang.) to sing or play forcefully. <BR> <I>Ex. Standing there ... with her feet apart, belting out ... Porter's "Get Out of Town" (Saturday Review).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>belt up,</B> </I>(British Slang.) to stop talking; keep quiet. <BR> <I>Ex. He is so anxious to tell you which ... what ... and who ... that, free speech or not, one soon wishes he would belt up (Manchester Guardian).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tighten one's belt,</B> </I>to be or become more thrifty. <BR> <I>Ex. The drought continued and farm families tightened their belts.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>under one's belt,</B> </I>(Slang.) well in one's possession. <BR> <I>Ex. With his doctorate under his belt, the teacher went to Washington (New York Times).</I> noun <B>belter.</B> adj. <B>beltless.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="beltane">
<B>Beltane, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(in Scotland) May 1, in the Old Style calendar. <DD><B> 2. </B>an ancient Celtic anniversary celebration on May Day, at which great bonfires were kindled, especially in Scotland. </DL>
<B>belt drive,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the transmission of power from one shaft to another by means of an endless belt passing around a pulley on each shaft. <DD><B> 2. </B>the endless belt and pulleys used in doing this. </DL>
<A NAME="belted">
<B>belted, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having or wearing a belt. <DD><B> 2. </B>wearing a special belt as a sign of honor. <DD><B> 3. </B>marked by a belt or band, as of a distinctive color. <DD><B> 4. </B>fastened on by means of a belt. <BR> <I>Ex. a belted sword.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="beltedbiastire">
<B>belted-bias tire,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an automobile tire with a belt of cord fabric or metal beneath the tread and above the plies crisscrossing the tire diagonally to the center line of the tread. Also, <B>bias-belted tire.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="beltedkingfisher">
<B>belted kingfisher,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an American kingfisher with a dull-blue body above, white below, a crested head and a bluish belt on the breast. </DL>
<A NAME="beltian">
<B>Beltian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a section of Proterozoic rocks found in northwestern North America. <BR> <I>Ex. There are ... places where destruction by metamorphism could not have taken place, as in the Beltian rocks of Montana (Robert M. Garrels).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="belting">
<B>belting, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>material for making belts. <DD><B> 2. </B>belts collectively. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Slang.) a beating. </DL>
<A NAME="beltline">
<B>belt line,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a railroad, bus line, road, or the like, that makes a circuit around or almost around a city or special area. </DL>
<A NAME="beltline">
<B>beltline, </B>noun. =waistline.</DL>
<A NAME="beltsander">
<B>belt sander,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a machine for sanding in which the sandpaper or emery cloth is in the form of an endless belt that revolves between two pulleys. </DL>
<A NAME="belttightening">
<B>belt-tightening, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially U.S.) <DD><I>noun </I> a forced reduction of expenditures. <DD><I>adj. </I> designed to reduce expenses; economizing. <BR> <I>Ex. belt-tightening layoffs.</I> </DL>
