beer belly

noun

: a large, fat, protruding belly regarded as the result of a long habit of drinking large amounts of beer
… a large, unkempt man whose florid polyester shirt clings sensuously to his cumbersome beer belly.Robert Cantwell
It is fat, or adipose tissue, that gives us our beer bellies and our love handles, our man boobs and our muffin tops.Jo Whelan
beer-bellied adjective
Beer-bellied, snaggletoothed, foul-mouthed …, he seemed every inch the cockney thug … Hamish Bowles

Examples of beer belly in a Sentence

a middle-aged man with a big beer belly a former jock whose most impressive physical asset these days is his bloated beer belly
Recent Examples on the Web As stated earlier, beer bellies are a buildup of visceral fat. Sarah Fielding, Men's Health, 31 Mar. 2023 Beer consumption and the 'beer belly': scientific basis or common belief? Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 5 Feb. 2014 This fanny pack changes the definition of beer belly, because a can of beer can literally fit inside of it. Cassidy Olsen, Good Housekeeping, 5 Aug. 2022 In mountain biking, some of these riders were total sleepers, middle-aged guys with a beer belly who’d show up for the group ride and suffer up the climb. Outside Online, 7 Jan. 2022 In the five-minute video, also featuring Future and Young Thug, Drake dances as a retro workout trainer, sports a beer belly and even pays tribute to Michael Jackson, Rambo and other cultural icons. Jenna Ryu, USA TODAY, 3 Sep. 2021 Your neighbor with a beer belly and a comb-over who drives a beat-up Honda Civic might just be 007 laying low. Mark Kennedy, Detroit Free Press, 26 Mar. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'beer belly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of beer belly was in 1829

Dictionary Entries Near beer belly

Cite this Entry

“Beer belly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beer%20belly. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

beer belly

noun
beer-bellied
ˈbi(ə)r-ˌbel-ēd
adjective
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