bellbottom

3.5

Trousers that become wider from the knee down

adjective
/ˈbɛlˌbɑtəm/

Archaic

: pantalones de campana

The vintage shop specializes in bellbottom trousers from the 1970s.

Examples

She wore a pair of bellbottom jeans to the party.
Those bellbottom trousers are making a comeback!
His bellbottom pants swished as he danced across the floor.
She wore a colorful pair of bellbottom jeans to the party.
She wore a colorful pair of bellbottom jeans to the party.
His bellbottom pants swished as he danced across the floor.
Those bellbottom trousers are making a comeback!

Synonyms

bell-bottom

vsbellbottom

Archaic

2 3.9

Trousers with legs that become wider below the knee

is the same meaning but written as one word without a hyphen

bell-bottomed

vsbellbottom

Archaic

1 4.6

Trousers or pants with legs that get wider from the knee down and become wide at the bottom

is the same meaning but written without the -ed ending

Antonyms

tapered

1 4.5

Becoming narrower toward one end like a pencil or table leg

Compounds

bellbottom pants

Archaic

4.0

Trousers with legs that become wide from the knee downward

bellbottom trousers

Archaic

4.2

Trousers with legs that become very wide below the knee

How Flared

bellbottom

Archaic

3.5

straight

442 1.0

skinny jeans

12 2.1

Surface Forms

bellbottom positive

Morphology

bellbottom = bell + bottom (transparent) = bell + bottom

The meaning is directly derived from a combination of 'bell' + 'bottom' (i.e., a bottom shaped like a bell), which is readily inferable from the components.

Etymology

Bellbottom comes from joining bell and bottom because the lower part of the trousers looks like a bell at the bottom. So it means trousers whose legs 'flare out' from the knee down.