bellow

English

Alternative forms

• beller (US, dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle English belwen, from Old English bylgian, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to sound, roar”), whence also belg (“leather bag”), bellan (“to roar”), blāwan (“to blow”). Cognate with German bellen (“to bark”), Russian бле́ять (bléjatʹ, “baa, bleat”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛloʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛləʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɛləʊ

• Audio (US)

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Noun

bellow (plural bellows)

1. The deep roar of a large animal, or any similar loud noise.
   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World , London, New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     There was a tap at a door, a bull's bellow from within, and I was face to face with the Professor.

Translations

Verb

bellow (third-person singular simple present bellows, present participle bellowing, simple past and past participle bellowed)

1. To make a loud, deep, hollow noise like the roar of an angry bull.
   • 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC:

     the bellowing voice of boiling seas

2. To shout in a deep voice.
   • 2012 May 13, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Then, as the Sunderland fans' cheers bellowed around the stadium, United's title bid was over when it became apparent City had pinched a last-gasp winner to seal their first title in 44 years.

Derived terms

Translations