BELT


Meaning of BELT in English

I. belt 1 S2 W3 /belt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Language: Old English ]

1 . a band of leather, cloth etc that you wear around your waist to hold up your clothes or for decoration:

He unbuckled his leather belt.

2 . a large area of land that has particular features or where particular people live:

America’s farming belt

the green (=countryside) belt British English

⇨ ↑ green belt

3 . a circular band of something such as rubber that connects or moves parts of a machine ⇨ ↑ conveyor belt , ↑ fan belt

4 . below the belt informal unfair or cruel:

That was a bit below the belt, Paul.

The comments hit below the belt (=they were unfair or cruel) .

5 . have something under your belt to have achieved something useful or important:

a secretary with several years’ experience under her belt

6 . belt and braces British English informal a belt and braces way of doing something is one in which you do more than necessary in order to make sure that it succeeds

⇨ ↑ black belt , ↑ garter belt , ↑ safety belt , ↑ seat belt , ↑ suspender belt , ⇨ tighten your belt at ↑ tighten (6)

• • •

COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + belt

▪ a wide belt

Along the coast is a wide belt of sand dunes.

▪ a narrow belt

The tree grows in a narrow belt around the western Mediterranean.

▪ the green belt British English (=land around a city where building is not allowed)

the government's commitment to protecting the green belt

▪ a mountain belt (=a long and wide area of mountains)

mountain belts such as the Himalayas

▪ a coastal belt (=land along the coast)

The wide coastal belt is a flat plain, partially wooded.

▪ an industrial belt (=where there are a lot of factories etc)

the northern industrial belt of the United States

▪ the corn/cotton/wheat belt (=where corn/cotton etc is grown)

Western Australia's wheat belt

▪ the commuter belt British English (=an area around a large city from where people travel to work in the city every day)

House prices are high in the London commuter belt.

▪ the stockbroker belt British English (=an area around a city where rich people who work in the city live)

wealthy families living in the stockbroker belt

II. belt 2 BrE AmE verb

1 . HIT [transitive] informal to hit someone or something hard:

Dan belted the ball towards the goal.

2 . GO QUICKLY [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] British English spoken to go somewhere very fast SYN charge

belt down/along etc

We were belting down the motorway at 95 miles per hour.

3 . FASTEN [transitive] to fasten something with a belt:

Maria belted her raincoat firmly.

a dress belted loosely at the waist

belt something ↔ out phrasal verb

to sing a song or play an instrument loudly:

She was belting out old Broadway favourites.

belt up phrasal verb British English

1 . spoken used to tell someone rudely to be quiet

2 . informal to fasten your ↑ seat belt in a vehicle

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.