Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having a belly that is yellow or yellowish. Used of certain birds, for example.
- adjective Slang Cowardly.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having the belly yellow, or having yellow on the abdomen: specific in phrase-names of many different animals: as, the yellow-bellied flycatcher, Empidonax flaviventris; the yellow-bellied woodpecker, Sphyropicus varius. See cut under
sap-sucker .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of an
animal orreptile having ayellow underside or belly. - adjective figuratively
Uncourageous ,cowardly .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective easily frightened
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Olive-backed Sunbird, Cinnyris jugularis formerly, Nectarinia jugularis; protonym; Certhia jugularis, also known as the yellow-bellied sunbird, photographed at Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah, Malaysia.
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The snake is, depending on the source, an olive whipsnake (which is venomous) or a yellow-bellied puffing snake (Pseustes sulphureus) which is not.
Woodpecker vs. Snake 2010
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The whole British sitting volleyball squad are a bunch of yellow-bellied moaners, and Martine Wright, wife, mother, budding Paralympic athlete, the worst injured female survivor of Britain's most terrible terrorist act ever, what a lily-livered, chicken-hearted coward she is.
Martine Wright: 7/7, survival – and a whole new life of opportunities 2011
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The conical nose of the Pelamis, a name borrowed from the yellow-bellied sea snake, looks menacingly like a missile on land.
SNP hopes a new wave can carry Scotland to independence 2011
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It appears as if the "crusade" by the radicalized christian right and its yellow-bellied buddies on republican talk radio, is starting to backfire, and these numbers for Palin just tend to confirm it.
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Lindsey Graham is just another pink-faced, yellow-bellied HYPOCRITE who only remains in power due to the overwhelming majority of white-trash redneck voters in SC (the same ones with the Confederate flags in their front yards and the plastic Jesuses on their mantles).
Reliable Sources: Journos spar over Obama presser question 2009
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He's a yellow-bellied crud-grabber who wallows on the bottom of the GOP cesspool.
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The snake is, depending on the source, an olive whipsnake (which is venomous) or a yellow-bellied puffing snake (Pseustes sulphureus) which is not.
Woodpecker vs. Snake 2010
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Now let me tell you the real answer: You're a lowdown, yellow-bellied, lily-livered intellectual coward.
No, Thanks 2009
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In this edition: we have Harry Reid going yellow-bellied on the Cordoba House, Aqua Buddha worship, a zonked out Ben Quayle, John McCain going goo-goo eyed over Snooki, and Basil Marceaux -- whose internet prank campaign actually seems to be making more sense, compared to everyone else.
Midterm Madness, Part Three: August And Everything After 2010
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