"underbelly" meaning in English

See underbelly in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈʌn.dəˌbɛl.i/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈʌn.dɚˌbɛl.i/ [Canada, General-American], /ˈan.dəˌbel.i/ [General-Australian] Audio: en-au-underbelly.ogg Forms: underbellies [plural]
Etymology: From under- + belly. Etymology templates: {{vern|oriental ratsnake}} oriental ratsnake, {{taxlink|Pytas mucosa|species}} Pytas mucosa, {{prefix|en|under|belly}} under- + belly Head templates: {{en-noun}} underbelly (plural underbellies)
  1. The underside of an animal.
    Sense id: en-underbelly-en-noun-uvD~vZPt Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with German translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 41 41 18 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 41 41 18 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 34 34 32 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 39 39 23 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 37 37 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 35 35 30 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 35 35 30
  2. The underside of any thing.
    Sense id: en-underbelly-en-noun-IqNRYw3X Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with German translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 41 41 18 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 41 41 18 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 34 34 32 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 39 39 23 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 37 37 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 35 35 30 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 35 35 30
  3. (figuratively) The side which is not normally seen, normally a dark, immoral place. Tags: figuratively Translations (side which is not normally seen): dunkle Seite [feminine] (German), Schattenseite [feminine] (German), Unterseite [feminine] (German), υπογάστριο (ypogástrio) [neuter] (Greek), vientre [masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-underbelly-en-noun-mPObEA1Y Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms prefixed with under-, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with German translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 41 41 18 Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with under-: 27 27 46 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 41 41 18 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 34 34 32 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 39 39 23 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 37 37 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 35 35 30 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 35 35 30 Disambiguation of 'side which is not normally seen': 3 4 93
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: soft underbelly

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "soft underbelly"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "oriental ratsnake"
      },
      "expansion": "oriental ratsnake",
      "name": "vern"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Pytas mucosa",
        "2": "species"
      },
      "expansion": "Pytas mucosa",
      "name": "taxlink"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "under",
        "3": "belly"
      },
      "expansion": "under- + belly",
      "name": "prefix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From under- + belly.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "underbellies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "underbelly (plural underbellies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "un‧der‧bel‧ly"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "41 41 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 41 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "34 34 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 39 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "37 37 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 35 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 35 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We identified the species of the snake by its blue-grey underbelly.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1952 September, Philip K[indred] Dick, “The Gun”, in Planet Stories, New York, N.Y.: Love Romances Publishing Company, →OCLC; republished as The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, volume 1 (Beyond Lies the Wub), Los Angeles, Calif.: Underwood–Miller, 1987, →ISBN:",
          "text": "The soft underbelly of the dragon. In the legend, the dragon's armor doesn't cover its stomach.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Michael Tennesen, The Next Species: The Future of Evolution in the Aftermath of Man, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN; trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2016 March, →ISBN, page 120:",
          "text": "The biologist and his team were greeted by a nonstop squid review, with Humboldt squid darting in toward the boat and flashing their underbellies in attempts to lure small schooling fish near the surface.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The underside of an animal."
      ],
      "id": "en-underbelly-en-noun-uvD~vZPt",
      "links": [
        [
          "underside",
          "underside"
        ],
        [
          "animal",
          "animal"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "41 41 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 41 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "34 34 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 39 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "37 37 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 35 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 35 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1993, Jules Verne, chapter 37, in Walter James Miller, Frederick Paul Walter, transl., Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea: The Definitive Unabridged Edition Based on the Original French Texts, Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, →ISBN:",
          "text": "A jolt told me that the Nautilus had bumped the underbelly of the Ice Bank, still quite thick to judge from the hollowness of the accompanying noise.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The underside of any thing."
      ],
      "id": "en-underbelly-en-noun-IqNRYw3X"
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "41 41 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "27 27 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with under-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 41 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "34 34 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 39 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "37 37 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 35 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 35 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The area by the canal is the underbelly of town – not something you’d see in the guidebooks.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1967, Boyd C. Shafer, Richard A. McLemore, Everett Auspurger, Kenneth E. Miller, “World Cataclysm and the United States”, in Manual, Test, and Answers for 1865 to the Present: A United States History for High Schools, teachers’ edition, River Forest, Ill.: Laidlaw Brothers, →OCLC, page 98, column 2:",
          "text": "In order to take the initiative, military leaders from Great Britain and the United States decided to attack in Africa, cross the Mediterranean, and move up against the \"soft underbelly\" of German-dominated Europe.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 February 14, “Organizational Vulnerabilities and Recommendations to Exploit Them”, in Harmony and Disharmony: Exploiting al-Qa’ida’s Organizational Vulnerabilities, [West Point, N.Y.]: Combating Terrorism Center, Department of Social Sciences, United States Military Academy, →OCLC, page 53:",
          "text": "The documents in this report reveal how such doctrinal disagreements have historically driven wedges within the upper echelons of al-Qa'ida. It is this intra-movement contention that comprises the soft underbelly of violent jihad, which can be exploited to great ends.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 January 26, Christopher D. Shea, “‘T2 Trainspotting’: The Early Reviews”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2017-02-22:",
          "text": "Twenty-one years after the movie \"Trainspotting\" gave the world a glimpse into Edinburgh's seedy, heroin-filled underbelly, the franchise is back on the map with “T2 Trainspotting.”",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 March 25, Talya Minsberg, “In Her New Book, Kara Goucher Keeps Running Accountable”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "The book arrives at a moment of reckoning for the running world, as more female runners have come forward to share their stories of the sport’s dark underbelly, one that can be rife with manipulation, eating disorders and physical and emotional abuse.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The side which is not normally seen, normally a dark, immoral place."
      ],
      "id": "en-underbelly-en-noun-mPObEA1Y",
      "links": [
        [
          "dark",
          "dark#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "immoral",
          "immoral"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) The side which is not normally seen, normally a dark, immoral place."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "3 4 93",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "side which is not normally seen",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "dunkle Seite"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 4 93",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "side which is not normally seen",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Schattenseite"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 4 93",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "side which is not normally seen",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Unterseite"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 4 93",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "ypogástrio",
          "sense": "side which is not normally seen",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "υπογάστριο"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 4 93",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "side which is not normally seen",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "vientre"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈʌn.dəˌbɛl.i/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈʌn.dɚˌbɛl.i/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈan.dəˌbel.i/",
      "tags": [
        "General-Australian"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-underbelly.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/48/En-au-underbelly.ogg/En-au-underbelly.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/En-au-underbelly.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "underbelly"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms prefixed with under-",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "soft underbelly"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "oriental ratsnake"
      },
      "expansion": "oriental ratsnake",
      "name": "vern"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Pytas mucosa",
        "2": "species"
      },
      "expansion": "Pytas mucosa",
      "name": "taxlink"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "under",
        "3": "belly"
      },
      "expansion": "under- + belly",
      "name": "prefix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From under- + belly.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "underbellies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "underbelly (plural underbellies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "un‧der‧bel‧ly"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We identified the species of the snake by its blue-grey underbelly.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1952 September, Philip K[indred] Dick, “The Gun”, in Planet Stories, New York, N.Y.: Love Romances Publishing Company, →OCLC; republished as The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, volume 1 (Beyond Lies the Wub), Los Angeles, Calif.: Underwood–Miller, 1987, →ISBN:",
          "text": "The soft underbelly of the dragon. In the legend, the dragon's armor doesn't cover its stomach.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Michael Tennesen, The Next Species: The Future of Evolution in the Aftermath of Man, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN; trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2016 March, →ISBN, page 120:",
          "text": "The biologist and his team were greeted by a nonstop squid review, with Humboldt squid darting in toward the boat and flashing their underbellies in attempts to lure small schooling fish near the surface.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The underside of an animal."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "underside",
          "underside"
        ],
        [
          "animal",
          "animal"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1993, Jules Verne, chapter 37, in Walter James Miller, Frederick Paul Walter, transl., Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea: The Definitive Unabridged Edition Based on the Original French Texts, Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, →ISBN:",
          "text": "A jolt told me that the Nautilus had bumped the underbelly of the Ice Bank, still quite thick to judge from the hollowness of the accompanying noise.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The underside of any thing."
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The area by the canal is the underbelly of town – not something you’d see in the guidebooks.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1967, Boyd C. Shafer, Richard A. McLemore, Everett Auspurger, Kenneth E. Miller, “World Cataclysm and the United States”, in Manual, Test, and Answers for 1865 to the Present: A United States History for High Schools, teachers’ edition, River Forest, Ill.: Laidlaw Brothers, →OCLC, page 98, column 2:",
          "text": "In order to take the initiative, military leaders from Great Britain and the United States decided to attack in Africa, cross the Mediterranean, and move up against the \"soft underbelly\" of German-dominated Europe.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 February 14, “Organizational Vulnerabilities and Recommendations to Exploit Them”, in Harmony and Disharmony: Exploiting al-Qa’ida’s Organizational Vulnerabilities, [West Point, N.Y.]: Combating Terrorism Center, Department of Social Sciences, United States Military Academy, →OCLC, page 53:",
          "text": "The documents in this report reveal how such doctrinal disagreements have historically driven wedges within the upper echelons of al-Qa'ida. It is this intra-movement contention that comprises the soft underbelly of violent jihad, which can be exploited to great ends.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 January 26, Christopher D. Shea, “‘T2 Trainspotting’: The Early Reviews”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2017-02-22:",
          "text": "Twenty-one years after the movie \"Trainspotting\" gave the world a glimpse into Edinburgh's seedy, heroin-filled underbelly, the franchise is back on the map with “T2 Trainspotting.”",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 March 25, Talya Minsberg, “In Her New Book, Kara Goucher Keeps Running Accountable”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "The book arrives at a moment of reckoning for the running world, as more female runners have come forward to share their stories of the sport’s dark underbelly, one that can be rife with manipulation, eating disorders and physical and emotional abuse.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The side which is not normally seen, normally a dark, immoral place."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "dark",
          "dark#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "immoral",
          "immoral"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) The side which is not normally seen, normally a dark, immoral place."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈʌn.dəˌbɛl.i/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈʌn.dɚˌbɛl.i/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈan.dəˌbel.i/",
      "tags": [
        "General-Australian"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-underbelly.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/48/En-au-underbelly.ogg/En-au-underbelly.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/En-au-underbelly.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "side which is not normally seen",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "dunkle Seite"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "side which is not normally seen",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Schattenseite"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "side which is not normally seen",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Unterseite"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "ypogástrio",
      "sense": "side which is not normally seen",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "υπογάστριο"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "side which is not normally seen",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "vientre"
    }
  ],
  "word": "underbelly"
}

Download raw JSONL data for underbelly meaning in English (6.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.