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Glite Dictionary
to belly up to the bar

to belly up to the bar

1 8.8
Go up to a bar counter to order a drink
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : acercarse a la barra
  • As soon as we arrived, we belly up to the bar to order our drinks before the crowd got too big.

Examples

  • The locals often belly up to the bar at the pub every Friday night to celebrate the weekend.

  • After a long day at work, I decided to belly up to the bar and enjoy a cold beer.

  • Let's belly up to the bar And get us some refreshment.

    Near Dark (1987)

  • Send the dice to the Peach, boys, and belly up to the bar...

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Belly up to the bar with Andrew Nette.

    Blog text (34)

  • Butch bellies up to the bar next to Vincent, drinking his cup of "Plain ol' American."

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The mother would no longer be beholden to the government for her welfare check, and the father, now forced to belly up to the bar and assume responsibility for sowing his seeds, would be pissed off as well.

    Blog text (30)

  • BELLY UP TO THE BAR.

    Backstreet Dreams (1990)

  • Everybody bellied up to the bar, and the Steelers put 34 points on the board to beat the Browns in the 10th of their last 11 games vs. the Steelers.

    Blog text (14)

Synonyms

to come up
vsto belly up to the bar
520 1.7

To move closer to a person or place

is specifically about approaching the counter to order a drink
to hit the bar
vsto belly up to the bar
  • Informal
2 7.0

Go to a bar to have a drink and talk with friends

is about approaching the counter specifically to order a drink

How Direct

to belly up to the bar
  • Informal
1 8.8
to come up
520 1.7
to sidle up
4 7.6

Surface Forms

belly up to the bar infinitive
belly up to the bar past
belly up to the bar past participle
bellying up to the bar present participle
bellies up to the bar third person singular

Morphology

belly + up + to + the + bar

The meaning (to approach the bar to order a drink) is partly derivable from the constituents: 'belly' (the front of the body) + 'up' (toward) + 'bar' (drinks counter) evokes moving one’s belly up to the bar, so a learner can infer a physical approach. However, the phrasing is colloquial and uses a metaphorical/idiomatic posture ('belly up') that may not be fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Belly up to the bar probably comes from the image of someone leaning forward so their belly is up against the bar counter to get close and order a drink, like in an old pub. That's why it now means 'to move up to a bar to get a drink'.