From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishunderbellyun‧der‧bel‧ly /ˈʌndəˌbeli $ -ər-/ noun [singular] literary 1 the unpleasant parts of a place or society that are normally hiddenunderbelly of photographs that capture the underbelly of the United States – its poverty, its injustice, and its alienated underclass2 ATTACKthe weakest part of an organization or a person’s character, that is most easily attacked or criticizedunderbelly of They needed to find the soft underbelly of their opponents.3 HBAHBFthe lower part of an animal’s body, including the stomach
Examples from the Corpus
underbelly• It exposes the grim underbelly to the sentimental images captured by the town's celebrated photographer Frank Sutcliffe.• Sheltered by the underbelly of that small pedestrian bridge, I would practice my singing.• From the catwalk they surveyed this choked cavern which lay beneath even the underbelly of the city.• The Panhandle was the butt end of the underbelly of the city, and was lucky to have plumbing.• What obviously attracted Motion to Wainewright is the way his life represents the underbelly of the romantic movement.• But they have seen the underbelly of working motherhood, and I think they have taken in all its lessons.• That double standard was the underbelly of every easy laugh stand-up comedians got when they did hooker jokes. 