as in surplus
the state or an instance of going beyond what is usual, proper, or needed
a bellyful of complaints about the new security procedures
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Recent Examples of bellyful
At dawn, the farmers loaded the trucks with the land’s bellyful of flowers and headed out to sell to the neighboring towns.
—
Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
The apex of that transformation arrived with the N.F.L. planting this year’s event in Las Vegas, where the prevailing ethos might well be that a bellyful of anything is barely enough.
—Billy Witz, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2024
Who wants to talk of destruction with a bellyful of ribs?
—John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 2 July 2019
Go instead for the exquisite acting, the splendiferous set — and a bellyful of laughs.
—Joanne Engelhardt, The Mercury News, 13 June 2019
The ecologist gets his data and the caiman is none the worse for wear, save for losing a bellyful of rotting flesh.
—Jason Bittel, Smithsonian, 11 Oct. 2017
On its way to skim the lake and grab a bellyful of water to drop on a nearby forest fire, a CL-215—also known as Scooper—gave him a nice little haircut.
—Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, 15 Aug. 2016
Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
The apex of that transformation arrived with the N.F.L. planting this year’s event in Las Vegas, where the prevailing ethos might well be that a bellyful of anything is barely enough.
—Billy Witz, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2024
Who wants to talk of destruction with a bellyful of ribs?
—John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 2 July 2019
Go instead for the exquisite acting, the splendiferous set — and a bellyful of laughs.
—Joanne Engelhardt, The Mercury News, 13 June 2019
The ecologist gets his data and the caiman is none the worse for wear, save for losing a bellyful of rotting flesh.
—Jason Bittel, Smithsonian, 11 Oct. 2017
On its way to skim the lake and grab a bellyful of water to drop on a nearby forest fire, a CL-215—also known as Scooper—gave him a nice little haircut.
—Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, 15 Aug. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bellyful
Noun
-
Over a decade later, the spirit of that push has become a core policy for Johnson, who persuaded aldermen to support a record $1 billion TIF surplus that yielded $572 million for Chicago Public Schools and $233 million for the city.—
Jake Sheridan,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Those teams have areas of surplus and change-of-scenery candidates.—
Tim Britton,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The plaintiffs are suing Easterseals for damages in excess of $25,000.—
Chiara Kim,
PEOPLE,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Other oil companies paid an excess of $3 million in addition to the crossing fee to accelerate their passage in the face of soaring oil prices.—
Alma Solís,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bellyful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bellyful. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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