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Definition of belt noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

belt

noun
 
/belt/
 
/belt/
Idioms
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  1. a long narrow piece of leather, cloth, etc. that you wear around the middle part of your body
    • to do up/fasten/tighten a belt
    • a belt buckle
    • a studded leather belt
    • Around his waist he wore a belt.
    see also black belt, lifebelt, seat belt, suspender beltTopics Clothes and Fashiona2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • narrow
    • wide
    • thick
    verb + belt
    • buckle
    • do up
    • fasten
    belt + noun
    • buckle
    • loop
    • holster
    See full entry
  2. a continuous band of material that moves round and is used to carry things along or to drive a machine see also conveyor belt, fan beltTopics Engineeringc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • conveyor
    • drive
    • fan
    See full entry
  3. a narrow area or an area around the edge of something that has particular characteristics
    • the country’s corn/industrial belt
    • We live in the commuter belt.
    • a narrow belt of trees
    • a belt of rain moving across the country
    • Towns in the country's industrial belt were particularly affected by the recession.
    see also green belt, radiation belt, rust beltTopics Geographyc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • broad
    • wide
    • narrow
    preposition
    • belt of
    See full entry
  4. (informal) an act of hitting something/somebody hard
    • She gave the ball a terrific belt.
  5. Word OriginOld English, of Germanic origin, from Latin balteus ‘girdle’.
Idioms
below the belt
  1. (of a remark) unfair or cruel
    • That was distinctly below the belt!
belt and braces
  1. (informal) taking more actions than are really necessary to make sure that something succeeds or works as it should
    • a belt-and-braces policy
    Topics Successc2
have something under your belt
  1. (informal) to have already achieved or obtained something
    • She already has a couple of good wins under her belt.
    Topics Successc2
tighten your belt
  1. to spend less money because there is less available
    • With price increases on most goods, everyone is having to tighten their belt.
    • There is a need for further belt-tightening.
See belt in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee belt in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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