yellow-bellied
To be yellow-bellied is to be cowardly or easily scared. If you're yellow-bellied, you're not brave. It’s the kind of word cowboys use, partner.
This word originally applied to birds that literally have a yellow belly, like the yellow-bellied sapsucker. From there, it came to mean an insult for cowards. If you're afraid to ask someone on a date, you're yellow-bellied. If you're easily frightened or spooked, you're yellow-bellied. This is often used as an insult or challenge, like "What are you, yellow-bellied?!"
-
easily frightenedsynonyms: chicken, chickenhearted, lily-livered, white-livered, yellow
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing yellow-bellied
This list focuses on idioms and expressions that relate to bodies and body parts.
Jess and Leslie spend their free time playing in the fantasy land of Terabithia; but when tragedy strikes, one of them will have to learn to cope with loss in the real world.
In the first book of the Warriors series, a house cat named Rusty joins up with a clan of wild cats.