Chapter Bellaston to Ben of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Belly The belly and its members. The fable of Menenius Agrippa to the Roman people when they seceded to the Sacred Mount: “Once on a time the members refused to work for the lazy belly; but, as the supply of food was thus stopped, they found there was a necessary and mutual dependence between them.” Shakespeare introduces the fable in his Coriolanus, i. 1.
   The belly has no ears. A hungry man will not listen to advice or arguments. The Romans had the same proverb, Venter non habet aures; and in French, Ventre affamé n'a point d'oreilles.

Belly-timber Food.

“And now, Dame Peveril, to dinner, to dinner. The old fox must have his belly-timber, though the hounds have been after him the whole day.”- Sir W. Scott. Peveril of the Peak, chap. 48.

Belomancy (Greek). Divination by arrows. Labels being attached to a given number of arrows, the archers let them fly, and the advice on the label of the arrow which flies farthest is accepted and acted on. This practice is common with the Arabs.

Beloved Disciple St. John. (John xiii. 23, etc.)

Beloved Physician St. Luke. (Col. iv. 14.)

Below the Belt (See Belt. )

Belphegor A nasty, licentious, obscene fellow. Bel-Phegor was a Moabitish deity, whose rites were celebrated on Mount Phegor, and were noted for their obscenity. The Standard, speaking of certain museums in London, says, “When will men cease to be deluded by these unscrupulous Belphegors?” (meaning “quacks”).
    Phegor, Phogor, or Peor, a famous mountain beyond the Jordan. Nebo and Pisgah were neighbouring mountains. Beth-Peor is referred to in Deut. iii. 29.

Belphoebe meant for Queen Elizabeth. She was sister of Amoret. Equally chaste, but of the Diana and Minerva type. Cold as an icicle, passionless, immovable. She is a white flower without perfume, and her only tender passion is that of chivalry. Like a moonbeam, she is light without warmth. You admire her as you admire a marble statue. (Spenser: Faërie Queene, book iii.)

Belt To hit below the belt. To strike unfairly. It is prohibited in prize-fighting to hit below the waistbelt.
   To call men knaves and fools, to charge a man with nepotism, to make a slanderous report which is not actionable, indeed to take away a man's character in any way where self-defence is impossible, is “hitting him below the belt.”

“Lord Salisbury hits hard, but never hits below the belt.”- Daily Telegraph, November, 1885.

   To hold the belt. To be the champion. In pugilism, etc., a belt is passed on to the champion.

Beltane (2 syl.). A festival observed in Ireland on June 21st, and in some parts of Scotland on May Day. A fire is kindled on the hills, and the young people dance round it, and feast on cakes made of milk and eggs. It is supposed to be a relic of the worship of Baal. The word is Gaelic, and means Bel's fire; and the cakes are called beltane-cakes.

Belted Knight The right of wearing belt and spurs. Even to the present day knights of the shire are “girt with a belt and sword,” when the declaration of their election is officially made.

Belted Will Lord William Howard, warden of the western marches (1563-1640).

“His Bilboa blade, by marchmen felt,
Hung in a broad and studded belt;
Hence, in rude phrase, the borderers still
Called noble Howard Belted Will. ” Scott.

Beltenebros Amadis of Gaul so calls himself after he retires to the Poor Rock. His lady-love is Oriana. (Amadis of Gaul, ii. 6.)