bellows
/ˈbɛl.oʊz/
"bellows" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bellows” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #26,342 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #26,342
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location. At its most simple terms a bellows is a container which is deformable in such a way as to alter its volume...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bellows |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɛl.oʊz/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #26,342 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bellows” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bellows is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɛl.oʊz/. Corpus data places it at rank #26,342 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for bellows, with forms such as "bbellows", "bellosw", and "bellowss". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "below", "blows", "bells", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English belwes, plural of belu, belwe, a northern form of beli, from Old English bæliġ, northern form of bielġ, from Proto-Germanic *balgiz. Compare German Balg. See also belly. For the pronunciation /ˈbɛl.əs/, compare bodice, gallows. The correct English form is bellows, spelled B-E-L-L-O-W-S.
Definition
- 1A device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location. At its most simple terms a bellows is a container which is deformable in such a way as to alter its volume which has an outlet or outlets where one wishes to blow air.
- 2Any flexible container or enclosure, as one used to cover a moving joint.
- 3The lungs.
- 4Flexible, light-tight enclosures connecting the lensboard and the camera back.
- 5That which fans the fire of hatred, jealousy, etc.
Etymology
From Middle English belwes, plural of belu, belwe, a northern form of beli, from Old English bæliġ, northern form of bielġ, from Proto-Germanic *balgiz. Compare German Balg. See also belly. For the pronunciation /ˈbɛl.əs/, compare bodice, gallows.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbellows,bellosw,bellowss,bellowws,bellwos,belolws,belows,blelows,ebllows
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bellows - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
How do you spell "bellows"?
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Using “bellows”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E-L-L-O-W-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɛl.oʊz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “below” - see the side-by-side comparison. bellows vs below
- 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.