Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The soft belly or underside of an animal's body. Also called underbody.
- n. The vulnerable or weak part: "So much . . . can be learned from these and other neglected sources from the underbelly of traditional scholarship” ( Stephen Jay Gould).
Wiktionary
- n. The side which is not normally seen
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The lower ventral part of the abdomen of an animal, especially one that walks on four feet.
- n. The surface of an object closest to the ground, especially of an extended object such as an airplane.
- n. The weak point of an object vulnerable to attack; used especially in the phrase “the soft
underbelly ”.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the quality of being weak or unprotected
- n. lower side
- n. the soft belly or underside of an animal's body
Examples
“Okay, at the risk of revealing my soggy, maudlin underbelly ... this made me a smidgen weepy.”
“The stupidity that excretes from the mouths of the rightwing underbelly is just astonishing”
“Hey Dougie, thank you for confirming my 1st post: "The stupidity that excretes from the mouths of the rightwing underbelly is just astonishing.”
“I also note that your puritanical underbelly is showing.”
Think Progress » VIDEO: House Conservatives Reveal What God Thinks About Gay Marriage Amendment
“Our underbelly is showing and we are no longer safe.”
“Rome's underbelly is gradually revealed, and each book spirals you further in and further down into real Roman life.”
The Enemies of Jupiter: Summary and book reviews of The Enemies of Jupiter by Caroline Lawrence.
“Looking out his window, he had time to think just three things: The wheels are up, the underbelly is white, and "man, that guy is low.”
USATODAY.com - For many on Sept. 11, survival was no accident
“Trig’s real mom, suggests the internet underbelly, is Sarah’s teenage daughter, Bristol.”
“Us people in developed nations prefer to call our underbelly a gunt.”
“He can eat the underbelly, which is real soft, where there's no quills.”
CNN Transcript - Larry King Live: Jack Hanna Lets the Fur Fly - January 11, 2001
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘underbelly’.
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How low can you go?
A list of words that does the opposite of raising the bar
underscore, underwear, underachiever, underrated, underbite, undercapitalization, undercharged, underfloor, underground, underexposed, underfed, underboss and 105 more...
fbharjo under-bell-ly Apr 27, 2011