belt
belt — noun
1. a long thin band, usually made of leather or fabric, that you fasten around your
a long thin band, usually made of leather or fabric, that you fasten around your waist to hold up trousers or skirts, or simply to look stylish.
Nia tightened her leather belt before heading into the office.
tighten / loosen + a [material] belt
Rashida wore a thin gold belt over her summer dress.
wear + a + [adjective] belt + over [garment]
These jeans are loose, so I need a belt to keep them up.
function: hold up trousers/skirts
The little boy could not fasten the buckle on his belt.
fasten / buckle + belt
Mira hung her keys from a small loop on her belt.
hang [object] from a belt
- leather belt
- tighten one's belt (literal)
- fasten a belt
- buckle on a belt
Usage Note
Often appears with verbs of fastening: 'put on', 'fasten', 'buckle', 'tighten', 'loosen', 'undo'. The material is usually named just before the noun ('leather belt', 'cloth belt').
Common Mistakes
2. a long loop of rubber or similar tough material inside a machine that turns arou
a long loop of rubber or similar tough material inside a machine that turns around two wheels, either to drive other parts or to carry items from one place to another.
The factory belt slowly carried bottles toward the labelling machine.
conveyor sense: belt + carry / move + objects
Passengers waited near the belt for their suitcases to appear.
airport baggage belt context
Nia replaced the worn rubber belt inside the engine.
engine / drive belt: replace + worn belt
When the belt snapped, every machine on the line stopped at once.
belt + snap / break consequence
- conveyor belt
- fan belt
- belt snaps
- replace the belt
Usage Note
Two main subtypes share this sense: a 'conveyor belt' (carries objects) and a 'drive belt' or 'fan belt' (transmits power inside engines). Subject is almost always a machine, factory line, or vehicle, never a person.
Common Mistakes
3. a long stretch of land, often near a city or running across a country, that shar
a long stretch of land, often near a city or running across a country, that shares one main feature — for example, the kind of people who live there, the crops grown there, or the climate.
Many young families have moved out to the commuter belt around London.
fixed compound: commuter belt
The town sits in the rust belt, where old steel factories once thrived.
fixed compound: rust belt
Farms across the corn belt depend on heavy summer rain.
agricultural belt: corn / cotton / wheat
A green belt of parks surrounds the old city centre.
green belt: protected open land around a city
- commuter belt
- green belt
- rust belt
- Bible belt
- cotton belt
Usage Note
Almost always preceded by a defining word: 'commuter belt', 'rust belt', 'cotton belt', 'green belt', 'Bible belt'. Without that word, 'belt' rarely carries this geographical meaning.
Common Mistakes
4. a sudden, forceful strike given to a person or thing, usually with a fist, the f
a sudden, forceful strike given to a person or thing, usually with a fist, the flat of a hand, or a heavy object.
Mateo gave the stuck door a belt with his shoulder and it finally opened.
give + something + a belt
One belt from the boxer sent his opponent to the floor.
a belt + from + [person]
The angry farmer threatened to give the thief a belt round the ear.
a belt round the ear: informal threat
Nia gave the bully a hard belt on the jaw and walked away.
give + [person] + a hard belt + on [body part]
- give someone a belt
- a belt round the ear
- a hard belt
Usage Note
Informal and chiefly British or Irish. Most common in the pattern 'give somebody a belt' or 'a belt round the ear'. American English usually prefers 'a punch', 'a smack' or 'a wallop' for the same meaning.
Common Mistakes
below the belt
idiomdescribing a comment or action that is unfair or cruel, especially because it attacks someone in a way that is not allowed by polite or moral rules.
Mocking Rashida's accent during the debate was really below the belt.
Bringing up his divorce in a work meeting felt below the belt.
belt and braces
idiomdoing more than is strictly needed in order to be completely sure that a plan or system will not fail.
Saving the file on the laptop and the cloud is belt and braces, but Nia prefers it that way.
The engineer added a second alarm as a belt-and-braces measure.
to have already gained an experience, qualification, or achievement that you can rely on later.
With three marathons under her belt, Mira felt ready for the Tokyo race.
Once you have a teaching diploma under your belt, schools will take you seriously.
tighten your belt
idiomto spend less money than before because your income or budget has gone down.
After Mateo lost his weekend job, the family had to tighten their belts.
Rising rent forced many small shops on the street to tighten their belts.
belt — verb
1. to move very quickly in one direction, especially when talking about cars, motor
to move very quickly in one direction, especially when talking about cars, motorbikes, or runners going much faster than normal.
A red sports car came belting down the narrow lane.
belt + along / down + [path]
Nia belted across the field to catch the last bus home.
belt + across + [place]
The motorbike was belting past us at well over a hundred.
be belting past: continuous + adverb
Rashida belted up the stairs when she heard the smoke alarm.
belt + up / down + stairs
- belt down the road
- belt past someone
- belt across town
- crawl
to move very slowly, often used about traffic
Grammar Patterns
belt + along / down / past / up [place]
Usage Note
Almost always followed by a direction word ('along', 'down', 'past', 'up', 'across'). Informal and chiefly British; in American English 'tear', 'race' or 'speed' are more common in the same situations.
Common Mistakes
2. to hit a person or thing with a lot of force, often in anger or in a fight.
to hit a person or thing with a lot of force, often in anger or in a fight.
Mateo belted the ball over the back fence on his first swing.
belt + [object] + [direction]: sports use
Two drunk customers belted each other outside the bar.
belt + each other: in a fight
Nia belted the table with her fist when she heard the result.
belt + [object] + with [body part]
If you belt your little brother again, you will be sent to your room.
warning to a child: belt + [person]
- belt the ball
- belt someone in the face
- belt the table
- stroke
to touch gently, the opposite kind of contact
Grammar Patterns
belt + [person / object]
Usage Note
Informal. Two typical patterns: hitting a person in anger ('he belted his rival') and striking a ball with great force in sports ('she belted the ball into the net'). Avoid in formal writing — prefer 'hit', 'strike', or 'punch'.
Common Mistakes
3. to hold a piece of clothing close to the body, or to keep a person safely in a s
to hold a piece of clothing close to the body, or to keep a person safely in a seat, by putting a belt or strap around it.
Rashida belted her long coat at the waist before stepping into the snow.
belt + [garment] + at the waist
The flight attendant checked that every child was belted into a seat.
passive: be belted into a seat
Mateo belted his sword to his side before riding out of the village.
belt + [weapon] + to [body part]
Mira belted the loose cardigan so that it looked smarter for the meeting.
belt + [loose garment] for shape
- belt a coat / dress
- be belted into a seat
- belt at the waist
- unbuckle
to undo a belt or strap
Grammar Patterns
belt + [object / person]
be belted + into [seat]
Usage Note
Very often passive: 'be belted in', 'be belted into'. The object is usually a coat, dress, or jacket (to give it shape) or a person in a vehicle seat. Distinguish from sense 1: this is about fastening, not about speed.
Common Mistakes
4. to sing a song with a very strong, powerful voice so that it sounds full and rea
to sing a song with a very strong, powerful voice so that it sounds full and reaches the back of a room or stage.
Mira belted out the chorus and the whole bar joined in.
belt out + the chorus
The young singer belted her final song to a standing crowd.
belt + [song] without 'out'
Rashida can belt a high note without sounding tired.
belt + [a note]
Mateo belted out old rock hits during the long drive home.
belt out + [musical genre]
- belt out a song
- belt out the chorus
- belt a high note
- whisper
to speak or sing very quietly, the opposite kind of voice
Grammar Patterns
belt out + [song]
belt + [song] + out
Usage Note
Almost always paired with 'out' for songs and choruses ('belt out a tune'). Suggests volume and power rather than sweetness — used about pop, rock, or musical-theatre singing, rarely about lullabies or quiet ballads.
Common Mistakes
belt out
phrasal verbto sing or play a piece of music in a very loud, energetic way so that it fills the whole room.
Mira climbed onto the stage and belted out her favourite musical song.
The marching band belted out the national anthem before the match.
belt up
phrasal verbto fasten the seat belt in a car, or, used as a sharp order, to stop talking and be quiet.
Nia reminded the children to belt up before she started the engine.
Belt up, you two — I am trying to listen to the news.
Word family
- beltedadjectiveB2
- beltingadjectiveC1
- seatbeltnounA2
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
All four words name a long thin band worn on the body, but they live in different worlds. A belt is the everyday item: a leather or cloth band that buckles around the waist of trousers or a coat ('a brown leather belt'). A sash is wider and softer; it is tied (not buckled) and is mainly decorative or ceremonial — think of a beauty queen's sash or the silk sash on a kimono-style robe. A girdle sounds old-fashioned; in older novels it means a belt at the waist, while in modern English it usually means a stretchy undergarment that shapes the body. A strap is the most general: any narrow band on a bag, watch, helmet, or seat ('a watch strap', 'a shoulder strap'). So you 'fasten your belt', 'tie a sash', 'wear a girdle under a dress', and 'adjust a strap' — different verbs hint at the difference.
Common collocations
Nouns
- leather belt
- seat belt
- conveyor belt
- fan belt
- green belt
- commuter belt
- rust belt
- Bible belt
- belt buckle
- belt loop
Phrases
- tighten one's belt
- below the belt
- belt and braces
- have something under one's belt
Prepositions
- around (the waist)
- on (one's belt)
- under (one's belt)
- below (the belt)
- into (a seat)
Etymology
The word 'belt' has lived in English since the very earliest written records, when it appeared in Old English as 'belt' meaning a strap worn at the waist. It came into Germanic languages from Latin 'balteus', meaning a sword-belt or military girdle, and the Romans in turn may have borrowed the term from older Etruscan. The original sense — a band worn on the body — has stayed remarkably stable for more than a thousand years. Wider uses (a strip of land, a moving band in a machine, a forceful blow, or loud singing) all developed in English much later, by imagining the long, narrow shape of a waist belt and stretching that picture to other things.