Bellows

How to spell bellows

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bellows

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bellows mean?

1. nounA device with an expandable chamber that pumps a stream of air, used to fan a fire or supply wind to an organ or forge.
2. verbRoars or shouts in a deep, loud voice (third person singular of bellow).

Bellows in a sentence

• noun

  The blacksmith squeezed the bellows to make the coals glow white.

• verb

  The sergeant bellows his orders so loudly that the whole yard hears him.

• noun

  A pair of bellows hung beside the fireplace for reviving the embers.

• verb

  Whenever the referee makes a bad call, the crowd bellows in protest.

Where does bellows come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word traces back to the Old English belg, which meant a bag or a leather pouch, the same root that gave us 'belly' (originally the body's pouch) and 'bag'. The blowing device was first called a blǣstbelg, literally a 'blast bag', and the second half of that compound, the 'bag' part, eventually survived on its own to name the whole tool. Because the device naturally came in matched pairs of chambers, it was usually spoken of in the plural, which is why we say 'a pair of bellows' and why the singular form sounds odd to modern ears. The Middle English forms 'bely' and 'belwes' gradually settled into the modern spelling with its doubled 'l' and the -ows ending. The verb sense, meaning to roar or shout, comes from a related Old English word for the bellowing of a bull, and the two senses reinforced each other through the image of forced, rushing air.

How the word is built

• bellow (from Old English belg: bag, leather pouch)
• -s (plural/agreement marker)