un·der·bel·ly

(ŭn′dər-bĕl′ē)

n. pl. un·der·bel·lies

1. The soft belly or underside of an animal's body. Also called underbody.

2. The bottom side or part: scraped the car's underbelly going over the curb.

3. The vulnerable or weak part or aspect: "What if quantum theory is wrong? This is the soft underbelly of the whole project of quantum gravity" (Lee Smolin).

4. The corrupt or immoral part or aspect: "[a novel] that most effectively exposed the decadent underbelly of corporate high tech" (Theodore Roszack).

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

underbelly

(ˈʌndəˌbɛlɪ)

n, pl -lies

1. (Zoology) the part of an animal's belly nearest to the ground

2. a vulnerable or unprotected part, aspect, or region

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

un•der•bel•ly

(ˈʌn dərˌbɛl i)

n., pl. -lies.

1. the lower abdomen.

2. the underneath part of an animal behind the chest.

3. the lower surface or underside.

4. a vulnerable area; weak point.

[1600–10]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	underbelly - lower side; "the underbellies of clouds" bottom, underside, undersurface - the lower side of anything
	2.	underbelly - the soft belly or underside of an animal's body underbody abdomen, belly, stomach, venter - the region of the body of a vertebrate between the thorax and the pelvis
	3.	underbelly - the quality of being weak or unprotected; "the soft underbelly of the Axis"- Winston Churchill soft spot, weak part, weak spot - a place of especial vulnerability

Translations

υπογάστριο

underbelly

[ˈʌndəˌbelɪ] N (Anat) → panza f
the (soft) underbelly (fig) → la parte indefensa

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

underbelly

[ˈʌndəˌbɛlɪ] n (Anat) → basso ventre m (fig) → punto debole
the soft underbelly → il ventre molle

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

wed FILAMENT Combining dance moves, circus styles and The Breakfast Club spirit, this show from LA, is at Underbelly Circus Hub, Edinburgh, daily, 5pm.

notifications centre

When we saw the show, they were with Olympic DANNY MACASKILL'S DROP AND ROLL Underbelly Circus Hub on the Meadow hopeful Alex Coleborn on the BMX, rocking all kind of half-pipe delights.

KIDS@FRINGE; THE BEST SHOWS FOR THE LITTLE DARLINGS KIDS@FRINGE

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He has a children's show early in the day, but Unleashed (Underbelly, Bristo Square, July 31 to August 25) will have the wily old entertainer riffing on everything from reality TV to the surreal nature of British politics.

Daft as a Brush IT'S ON; Capital fun from Craig Ferguson's return and Eddie Izzard's Dickens to physical comedy and improvisation

For her latest work, "Underbelly," Tabet has taken as her starting point "2666," the sprawling, magisterial, final novel of Roberto Bolano - particularly the chapter concerned with the murder of women in a fictionalized Mexican town.

Beirut, women, death in 'Underbelly'

Her latest novel, The Lady Killer, draws from aspects of her own rich personal experience to add colorful realism to the extraordinarily eerie mystery of a man's double life and the dizzying consequences of his role in the underbelly of Tokyo's nightclubs.

Masako Togawa: The Lady Killer

Summary: A crime drama, the web series is set in the underbelly of Goa

Indian series 'Smoke' to premiere in Cannes

Nevertheless, Lagoon said he tries to keep Underbelly Creative's compensation as competitive as possible.

CULTURE, NOT PERKS, MOST IMPORTANT TO RETAIN EMPLOYEES

However, as the patriarch Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) and his family start catching a few disturbing glimpses of the once welcoming neighborhood's dark underbelly, acts of unprecedented violence, paired with a gruesome death, will inevitably blemish Suburbicon's picture-perfect facade.

Movie Guide

Artist collective Tropical Contemporary will hold a free reception for its new exhibit, "Underbelly." The exhibit explores the issue of "us" versus "them" and the societal structure of the white, cis-gendered, heterosexual, neurotypical patriarchy that excludes the "other."

Visual Arts

Rulfo's stories and sketches are absorbing and believable, classically exploring the coarse underbelly of small-town Mexico.

The Golden Cockerel & Other Writings