belch

C2+ Topic:The Human Body

US /bɛltʃ/ UK /bɛltʃ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to emit wind noisily from the stomach; to expel forcefully

The factory chimney belched thick black smoke.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to emit wind noisily from... burpeructemit spew disgorge erupt gush

Opposites

swallow absorb

Word family

Derived forms belchedbelching

Etymology

From Old English bealcian, bealcettan ('to belch, bring up'), of imitative origin, echoing the sound of eructation.

bealcian Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# belch

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /bɛltʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /bɛltʃ/

## Meanings
1. to emit wind noisily from the stomach; to expel forcefully

## Examples
- The factory chimney belched thick black smoke.

## Synonyms
- burp
- eruct
- emit
- spew
- disgorge
- erupt
- gush

## Antonyms
- swallow
- absorb

## Derived Forms
- belched
- belching

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bealcian

## Etymology
From Old English bealcian, bealcettan ('to belch, bring up'), of imitative origin, echoing the sound of eructation.

## AI Etymology
Belch comes from Old English bealcian, bealcettan ('to belch, bring up'), of imitative origin, echoing the sound of eructation. The historical trail runs through bealcian in Old English. Its formation is sound-symbolic rather than a regular transparent compound, with the older form echoing the sound named in the history. Used as a verb and noun, belch now means "emit wind noisily from the stomach; to expel forcefully", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as belched and belching. The word is therefore part of the inherited Germanic layer of English, even where later usage has narrowed, broadened, or specialized the sense.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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