belch
/ˈbɛltʃ/
"belch" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“belch” is an uncommon English word, ranked #68,863 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #68,863
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To expel (gas) from the stomach through the mouth; especially, to do so loudly.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | belch |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈbɛltʃ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #68,863 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “belch” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for belch is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɛltʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #68,863 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for belch, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English belchen, from Old English bielċan, from Proto-Germanic *balkijaną, *belkaną, probably ultimately of imitative origin. Related to Dutch balken (“to bray”), Middle Low German belken (“to shout”), Low German bölken (“to shout, bark”), Old E… The correct English form is belch, spelled B-E-L-C-H.
Definition
- 1To expel (gas) from the stomach through the mouth; especially, to do so loudly.
- 2To eject or emit (something) with spasmodic force or noise.
Etymology
From Middle English belchen, from Old English bielċan, from Proto-Germanic *balkijaną, *belkaną, probably ultimately of imitative origin. Related to Dutch balken (“to bray”), Middle Low German belken (“to shout”), Low German bölken (“to shout, bark”), Old English bealċettan (“to utter, send forth”). See also English bolk, boak.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “belch”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E-L-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɛltʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.