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bellow

noun · verb

Simple meaning

The deep roar of a large animal, or any similar loud noise.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

behloh

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈbɛloʊ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The deep roar of a large animal, or any similar loud noise.

  2. A very loud utterance (like the sound of an animal)

verb

  1. Make a loud noise, as of animal

  2. To make a loud, deep, hollow noise like the roar of an angry bull.

  3. To shout in a deep voice.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient
Frequency
Uncommon

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The deep roar of a large animal, or any similar loud noise.

Used this way, bellow is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • yowl , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

bellow likegreat bellowloud bellow

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • roaring

    A deep prolonged loud noise.

  • roar

    A loud resounding noise.

  • hollering

    A very loud utterance (like the sound of an animal).

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • bellowsnounPlural form

    A mechanical device that blows a strong current of air.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • bellows fishnounCompound term

    Small bottom-dwelling fish of warm seas having a compressed body and a long snout with a toothless mouth.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: deep roar of a large animal

verb

Sense: make a loud noise or as of animal

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.