bellow

verb

bel·​low ˈbe-(ˌ)lō 

bellowed; bellowing; bellows

intransitive verb

1

: to make the loud deep hollow sound characteristic of a bull

2

: to shout in a deep voice

transitive verb

: bawl

bellows the orders

bellow noun

Synonyms

• boom
• growl
• roar
• thunder

Examples of bellow in a Sentence

He bellowed at her to come over at once.

He was bellowing into the phone, giving orders to one of his employees.

The sergeant was bellowing orders.

Recent Examples on the Web

Comparisons are inevitable as soon as Stanley starts bellowing his wife’s name as though his guts were pouring out of him. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2025

Coming off a 1-0 loss to the Calgary Flames and a 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers, coach Martin St. Louis skated to centre ice after explaining a drill at the whiteboard and bellowed one instruction to his players. —Arpon Basu, The Athletic, 11 Mar. 2025

Another photo showed bellowing black smoke rising from the bus, which caused some obvious traffic on the highway. —Scott Thompson, Fox News, 24 Feb. 2025

Cynical readers might right away be bellowing that this is going to incentivize the AI makers to convince users to increase their thinking times, perhaps just to make a buck. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English belwen, from Old English bylgian; akin to Old English & Old High German bellan to roar

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Rhymes for bellow

• cello
• fellow
• jello
• mellow
• melo
• velo
• marshmallow
• morello
• othello
• schoolfellow
• portobello
• violoncello

Kids Definition

bellow

verb

bel·​low ˈbel-ō 

: to make a deep loud roar like that of a bull

bellow noun

Biographical Definition

Bellow

biographical name

Bel·​low ˈbe-(ˌ)lō 

Saul 1915–2005 American (Canadian-born) writer