Your belly is the front part of your body between your chest and your legs, where your stomach and intestines do their work of digesting food. When you eat a big meal, you might rub your belly and say you're full. Babies and toddlers often have round, soft bellies that stick out a bit.

The word belly is more casual and friendly than the medical term “abdomen.” You might hear someone say they have a bellyache when their stomach hurts, or talk about doing a belly flop when they jump into a pool and land flat on their front instead of diving in smoothly.

Animals have bellies too. A dog might roll over to let you scratch its belly, showing it trusts you. Some fish have white bellies that make them harder for predators to spot when looking up from below.

The word can also describe the curved or bulging middle part of something, like the belly of a ship (its widest part underwater) or the belly of a guitar (the rounded front). When sailors talk about being in the belly of the ship, they mean deep inside it, where cargo is stored.