bellows

UK: /ˈbɛləʊz/ US: /ˈbɛloʊz/ ,(bel′ōz, -əz)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

bel•lows /ˈbɛloʊz/   n. [countable] * [used with a singular or plural verb]

1. a device for producing a strong current of air by drawing air in and pushing it out through a tube:
   a bellows for increasing the draft to a fire.
2. Photography something resembling a bellows, as lungs.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

bel•lows  (bel′ōz, -əz), n. (used with a sing. or pl. v.)

1. Photography a device for producing a strong current of air, consisting of a chamber that can be expanded to draw in air through a valve and contracted to expel it through a tube.
2. Photography anything resembling or suggesting bellows in form, as the collapsible part of a camera or enlarger.
3. the lungs.

• bef. 900; Middle English bel(o)wes (plural), Old English belg, short for blǣst belg, plural belgas blast-bag; cognate with Dutch blaasbalg, German Blasebalg, Old Norse belgr. See belly

bel′lows•like′, adj. 

Bel•lows  (bel′ōz), n. 

1. Biographical George Wesley, 1882–1925, U.S. painter and lithographer.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bellows / ˈbɛləʊz/ noun (functioning as singular or plural)

1. Also called: pair of bellows an instrument consisting of an air chamber with flexible sides or end, a means of compressing it, an inlet valve, and a constricted outlet that is used to create a stream of air, as for producing a draught for a fire or for sounding organ pipes
2. a flexible corrugated element used as an expansion joint, pump, or means of transmitting axial motion

Etymology: 16th Century: from plural of Old English belig belly

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

bel•low /ˈbɛloʊ/   v. 

1. to shout or speak in a loud voice similar to the cry of a bull: [no object]
   The gym teacher kept bellowing at us.
   [~ + object]
   He bellowed a warning at us.
   [used with quotations]
   "Step back,'' he bellowed.
2. (of an animal) to roar;
   bawl:
   [no object] The cows bellowed in the distance.

n. [countable]

3. an act or sound of bellowing:
   He let out a loud bellow.

bel•low•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

bel•low  (bel′ō), v.i. 

1. to emit a hollow, loud, animal cry, as a bull or cow.
2. to roar;
   bawl:
   bellowing with rage.

v.t. 

3. to utter in a loud deep voice:
   He bellowed his command across the room.

n. 

4. an act or sound of bellowing.

• bef. 1000; Middle English belwen, akin to Old English bylgan to roar (compare for the vowel Old High German bullôn); extended form akin to bell²

bel′low•er, n. 
Synonyms

• 2. See cry. 

Bel•low  (bel′ō), n. 

1. Biographical Saul, born 1915, U.S. novelist, born in Canada: Nobel prize for literature 1976.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bellow / ˈbɛləʊ/ verb

1. (intransitive) to make a loud deep raucous cry like that of a bull; roar
2. to shout (something) unrestrainedly, as in anger or pain; bawl

noun

1. the characteristic noise of a bull
2. a loud deep sound, as of pain or anger

Etymology: 14th Century: probably from Old English bylgan; related to bellan to bell²