Meaning
A swollen, fluid-filled belly — the distended abdomen seen in serious illness (such as the ascites of liver or heart trouble, or the swollen belly of severe malnutrition). Folk speech calls it 'water belly' for the way the abdomen fills with fluid. A worrying sign of sickness, not to be confused with a plain 'big belly'.
Examples
-
Di sick man belly swell up like water-belly.
The sick man's belly swelled up with fluid.
-
Water-belly a sign seh someting wrong.
A fluid-swollen belly is a sign something's wrong.
-
Dem carry him a doctor fi di water-belly.
They took him to the doctor for the swollen belly.
Origin
From 'water' (fluid) + 'belly'; a fluid-swollen abdomen. See [[swell-up]], [[bad-belly]].
How it’s used
A fluid-swollen belly from illness; not a plain 'big belly'. See [[swell-up]], [[bad-belly]].