belt

noun belts

1. A band worn around the waist to hold clothing to one's body (usually pants), hold weapons (such as a gun or sword), or serve as a decorative piece of clothing. As part of the act, the fat clown's belt broke, causing his pants to fall down.

   Similar: girdle, waistband, sash, strap

2. A band used as a restraint for safety purposes, such as a seat belt. Keep your belt fastened; this is going to be quite a bumpy ride.
3. A band that is used in a machine to help transfer motion or power. The motor had a single belt that snaked its way back and forth around a variety of wheels.
4. Anything that resembles a belt, or that encircles or crosses like a belt; a strip or stripe. a belt of trees; a belt of sand
5. A trophy in the shape of a belt, generally awarded for martial arts. the heavyweight belt
6. A collection of small bodies (such as asteroids) which orbit a star.
7. One of certain girdles or zones on the surface of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, supposed to be of the nature of clouds.
8. A band of armor along the sides of a warship, protecting the ship's vital spaces. The battleship was protected by a twelve-inch belt just above the waterline.
9. A powerful blow, often made with a fist or heavy object. After the bouncer gave him a solid belt to the gut, Simon had suddenly had enough of bar fights.

   Similar: blow, punch, sock, wallop

10. A quick drink of liquor. Care to join me in a belt of scotch?

    Similar: dram, nip

11. capitalized, usually A geographical region known for a particular product, feature or demographic (Corn Belt, Bible Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt).
12. The part of the strike zone at the height of the batter's waist. That umpire called that pitch a strike at the belt.
13. A device that holds and feeds cartridges into a belt-fed weapon.
14. A vocal tone produced by singing with chest voice above the break (or passaggio), in a range typically sung in head voice. Both auditionees had great ranges but Diamond had the strong belt we really need for the finale.
15. A mostly-continuous, often curvilinear structure expressed on the surface or in the subsurface of a terrestrial planet or other solid planemo, such as a mountain belt, a fold and thrust belt, or an ore belt. This belt of deformed platform sediments parallels the suture running east-to-west across the north of the region, which was left when the ocean basin that originally separated the two ancient continents on either side of it was consumed by subduction.

Similar: restraint, safety belt, seat belt

verb belts · belting · belted

1. transitive To fasten a belt on; to encircle with a belt. Edgar belted himself in and turned the car's ignition.

   Similar: buckle, fasten, strap

2. transitive To encircle; to surround. There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs—commerce surrounds it with her surf. Right and left, the streets take you waterward.

   Similar: circle, girdle, surround

3. transitive To invest (a person) with a belt as part of a formal ceremony such as knighthood.
4. transitive To hit with a belt. The child was misbehaving so he was belted as punishment.

   Similar: strap, whip

5. colloquial, transitive To hit someone or something, especially forcefully; to bash. The angry player belted the official across the face, and as a result was ejected from the game.

   Similar: bash, clobber, smack, wallop

6. transitive To hit a pitched ball a long distance, usually for a home run. He belted that pitch over the grandstand.
7. informal, transitive, normally belt out To scream or sing in a loud, strong manner. He belted out the national anthem.
8. transitive To drink quickly, often in gulps. He belted down a shot of whisky.

   Similar: gulp, pound, slurp, book, speed, whiz, zoom

9. intransitive To move, run, drive, etc., very fast. He was really belting along.

proper noun Belts

1. countable, uncountable A surname.
2. countable, uncountable A town in Cascade County, Montana, United States.
3. abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of Main Asteroid Belt: a region of Solar System. Believe it or not, Belter slang — or, more officially, Belter Creole — isn't a completely made-up way of communicating. It's actually a mix of several Earth languages spoken by the original settlers in the Asteroid Belt colonies — very appropriate, as the Belt is a melting pot of several different r