stove's belly

[James Bonde]

I stared at the fire in our stove’s belly, reflecting on the question of my destiny: exactly the activity I preach to my students, exactly the activity I’d been avoiding as assiduously as they do.（From The Deepest Human Life by Scott Samuelson）

Does that mean "the belly of a potbelly-stove" or "the belly of a common wood-burning stove"？

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

If it mattered, the writer would have told you.

(A lot of writers would tell you even if it didn't matter.)

 

[James Bonde]

Why does the author use "belly"?

 

[SoothingDave]

Did you look it up?

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belly

Defintion 2a: an internal cavity

 

[5jj]

It resembles in shape the belly of a fat person.

 

[James Bonde]

So is it a potbelly stove?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

So is it a potbelly stove?

Maybe. Possibly. Probably.

Again, it doesn't say, and it doesn't matter. The point is not the shape of the stove. The point is that he's thinking about destiny.

 

[Tdol]

So is it a potbelly stove?

Probably