בֶּלַע m. (preced.) 1) absorption, natural loss, leakage. B. Mets. III, 8 (40ᵃ) לוג ומחצה ב׳ a Log and a half is a reasonable leakage (absorbed by new vessels); a. e. —2) pr. n. m. (b. h.) Bela; v. בָּלַע a. בְּלִיעָה. —3) בֶּלַע or בַּלַּע (cmp. בְּלִי) a nothing, a mote. Tanḥ. Vayak. 7 (ref. to כְּבַלַּע Num. IV, 20) כב׳ הזה שהוא נופל בעין; (Num. R. s. 5 מן העין) as much as a mote which enters one’s eye.