bellows

Everyday

1. A tool with handles and a soft folding middle that pushes out a strong stream of air when you squeeze it, used to make a fire burn hotter. tree →
2. The folding air part of an accordion, organ or old camera. tree →
3. «Bellows» is also the -s form of the verb «bellow»: to shout or roar loudly. «He bellows at the dog.» tree →

In the lessons

In history and science lessons blacksmiths used bellows to blow air into fires to make them hot enough to melt metal: more oxygen makes a fire burn hotter. Our lungs work a bit like bellows. In stories a giant or angry man «bellows» orders.

Examples

• The blacksmith pumped the bellows to make the fire glow. tree →
• Grandpa uses a pair of bellows to start the fire. tree →
• The accordion's bellows squeezed in and out. tree →
• Our lungs work a bit like bellows. tree →
• The coach bellows at us from the side of the pitch. tree →
• The bull bellows in the field. tree →
• So there John blew his bellows and hammered his iron and did all the work which came his way. tree →

Note

«Bellows» the tool is singular or plural: «the bellows is» or «the bellows are»; «a pair of bellows». Say «BELL-ohz». The verb «bellow» means shout loudly — a different meaning.

In Jewish tradition

A tool for blowing a fire hotter, used by metalworkers to refine silver.

Interpretation. Jeremiah pictures Israel as metal in a furnace that stays impure even after fierce heating, showing how stubborn the wicked are.

Examples

• The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed of the fire; in vain doth the founder refine, for the wicked are not separated. (Prophets JER.6.29, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

«Bellows» the tool is singular or plural: «the bellows is» or «the bellows are»; «a pair of bellows». Say «BELL-ohz». The verb «bellow» means shout loudly — a different meaning.