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in the US, best known for inventing the telephone in 1876.
He also started the Bell Telephone Company.
**Bel-la** /'belə/ a British weekly magazine for women, which
gives advice about fashion, health, cooking etc
**bel-la-don-na** /ˌbelə'dɒnə; ˈdɑːnə/ n [U] **1** DEADLY NIGHT-
SHADE **2** a drug, used in medicine, obtained from this plant
**Bel-la-my, David** /'belæmi/ (1933–) a British scientist who
used to present television programmes about the natural
world, especially plants. He has a big BEARD and a cheerful
and excited manner, and is known for his work to protect
the environment.
**'bell-bottoms** n [P] trousers with legs that become wider at
the bottom. Bell-bottoms were very fashionable in the
1960s, but are not considered fashionable now. → see PAIR
(USAGE)
**bell-boy** /'belbɔɪ/ also **bellhop** AmE — n a messenger or
PORTER in a hotel or club
**belle** /bel/ n a popular and attractive girl or woman: *the belle
of the ball* (=the prettiest girl at the dance)
**Belle Dame Sans Mer-ci, La** /ˌbel ˌdɑːm sɑ̃ː mɛəˈsiː;
-mɛər-/ a famous poem by John KEATS in which a KNIGHT
meets a beautiful magical woman who says she loves him
but then disappears
**belles-let-tres** /ˌbel ˈletrə/ n [U] Fr literature that is of value
for its beauty rather than for its practical importance
**bell-hop** /'belhɒp; ˌhɑːp/ n AmE someone, especially a young
man, whose job is to carry bags in a hotel or take messages to
people staying there; BELLBOY
**bel-li-cose** /'belɪkəʊs/ adj fml warlike; ready to quarrel or
fight →**cosity** /ˌbelɪ'kɒsɪti; l-'kɑːs-/ n [U]
**bel-lig-er-ent** /bɪ'lɪdʒərənt/ adj **1** angry and ready to fight;
AGGRESSIVE: *a belligerent person/attitude* → compare PUGNA-
CIOUS **2** [A] tech (especially of a country) at war →**ency**,
-**ence** n [U]
**belligerent²** n tech a person or country that is at war
**Bel-li-ni, Ja-co-po** /belˈlɪni, ˌdʒækəpəʊ; ˈjɑː-/ (?1400–?1470) a
painter from Venice. He trained his sons Gentile Bellini
(?1429–1507) and Giovanni Bellini (?1430–1516), who were also
painters.
**'bell jar** n a large bottle made of thick glass, used to protect
something inside it, or in scientific EXPERIMENTS
**'Bell La,bor,atories** /lˈæb.../, **'Bell Labs** a group of
laboratories (LABORATORY) in the US where scientists have
made many important discoveries and developments in
science and TECHNOLOGY. Scientists who work for Bell Labo-
ratories are generally considered to be very successful and
impressive.
**bel-low** /'beləʊ/ v **1** [I] to make the loud deep hollow sound
typical of a BULL **2** [I(with); T(OUT)] to shout (something) in a
deep voice: *to bellow with pain/bellow out orders* →bellow n
**Bellow, Saul** /sɔl/ (1915–2005) an American writer, born in
Canada, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976. His
NOVELS include *Herzog* (1964) and *Humboldt's Gift* (1975).
**bel-lows** /'beləʊz/ n pl. bellows [C+sing./pl. v] an instrument
used for supplying a stream of air (for example to make a fire
burn more quickly or to make an organ produce sound) →
see PAIR (USAGE)
**'bell pepper** n AmE for PEPPER
**'bell-ringing** n [U] the activity of ringing church bells,
especially as a member of a team that does this →**bell**-
**ringer** n
**Bell's** /belz/ trademark a type of popular Scottish WHISKY: *I
bought a bottle of Bell's.*
**bel-ly¹** /'beli/ n **1** infml a) the part of a person's or animal's
body, between the chest and the legs, which contains the
stomach, INTESTINES etc; ABDOMEN → see picture at HORSE
b) the stomach: *a full belly* **2** a surface or object curved or
round like this part of the body: *the belly of the plane/of a
violin* **3** -bellied /belɪd/ having a belly of the stated type:
*pot-bellied*
**belly²** v
**belly out** phr v [I; T(= belly sthg. ⇔ out)] to (cause to) swell or
become full: *The wind bellied out the sail.* | *The sail bellied
out in the wind.*
**bel-ly-ache¹** /'beli-eɪk/ n **1** [C; U] an ache in the belly **2** [C;
slang, often derog a complaint, especially about something
unimportant: *I'm sick of listening to your bellyaches.*
**bellyache²** v [I(about)] slang, often derog to complain repeatedly,
especially about something unimportant: *Stop bellyaching
and get on with the job!*
**'belly button** n infml a small mark or sunken place in the
middle of the stomach; NAVEL
**'belly dance** n a dance of Eastern origin, performed by a
woman using movements of the belly and HIPS →**dancer**
**'belly flop** n infml a DIVE (=an act of jumping head first into
water) in which the front of the body falls flat against the
water
**bel-ly-ful** /'belɪfʊl/ n [S(of)] infml an amount that is more than
one can bear: *I've had a bellyful of your complaints.*
**'belly-landing** n infml an act of landing a plane without use
of the landing equipment
**'belly laugh** n infml a deep full laugh, as if coming from the
belly
**Bel-mont Stakes, the** /ˌbelmənt ˈsteɪks; l-mənt-/
famous race for three-year-old horses that is held every year
in New York on the first Saturday of June. It is part of the
Triple Crown → see also KENTUCKY DERBY, THE; PREAKNESS,
THE
**be-long** /bɪ'lɒŋ; bɪ'lɔːŋ/ v [I+adv/prep] to be in the right place
or situation: *That chair belongs in the other room.* | *I don't
really feel I belong here.* | *Does this book belong here?* *No, it
belongs with the dictionaries on the top shelf.* | *Put it back
where it belongs.*
**belong to** sbdy./sthg. phr v [T no pass.] **1** to be the property
of: *That dictionary belongs to me.* | (fig.) *The credit for this
success belongs to the President.* **2** to be a member of, or be
connected with: *What party do you belong to?*
**be-long-ings** /bɪ'lɒŋɪŋz; bɪ'lɔː-/ n [P] those things which
belong to one, which are one's property: *She lost all her
belongings in the fire.*
**Bel-o-rus-sia** /ˌbelə'rʌʃə; bjel-/ the former name of BELA-
RUS
**be-lov-ed** /bɪ'lʌvd/ n, adj (a person who is) dearly loved:
*beloved by/of her friends* | *His beloved wife died.* | (usually
humor) *It was a gift from my beloved.* (=from my wife/
husband etc) → see LOVE (USAGE); see also **dearly beloved**
(DEARLY)
**be-low¹** /bɪ'ləʊ/ adv **1** in a lower place, on a lower level; or at
a lower position: *I live on the fifth floor; she lives on the floor
below.* | *We looked down from the mountain to the valley
below.* | *officers of the rank of captain and below* | children of
seven and below (=younger) → opposite ABOVE; compare
BENEATH¹, UNDERNEATH¹ **2** under the surface: *The captain
told the sailors to go below.* (=to a lower DECK of the
ship) **3** on a later page or lower on the same page: *See p.85
below.* | *The information below was compiled by our corres-*
*pondent.* → opposite ABOVE **4** lit on Earth rather than in
heaven: *'My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words*
*without thoughts never to heaven go.'* (Shakespeare, *Ham-*
*let*) **5** infml (of a temperature) lower than zero: *temperature
of 20° below*
**below²** prep in a lower place than or on a lower level than: a
skirt that reaches to below the knee | a mile below the village |
just below the surface of the water | children below the age of
seven (=younger than seven) | A captain is below a general
(=lower in rank) | His work is well below (=much less than)
average. | families living below the poverty line | Industrial
production is still way below (=very much lower than) the
1982 level. → see UNDER (USAGE); compare BENEATH², UNDER
**Bel-sen** /'belsən/ a Nazi CONCENTRATION CAMP in northern
Germany during World War II. Thousands of people, espe-
cially Jews, were killed in Belsen. It was the first concentra-
tion camp that British soldiers entered after the war ended,
and they were extremely shocked to see many dead bodies
and many people who were very thin because of lack of
food.
**belt¹** /belt/ n **1** a band worn around the waist, to support
clothing, as a decoration etc: *a leather belt* **2** a circular band
of leather or other material used for driving a machine or for
moving things from one place to another (for example in an