belt

Etymology

From Middle English belt, from Old English belt (“belt, girdle”), from Proto-West Germanic *baltī̆, from Proto-Germanic *baltijaz (“girdle, belt”), from Latin balteus (“belt, sword-belt”), of Etruscan origin. Cognate with Scots belt (“belt”), Dutch belt, German Balz (“belt”), Danish bælte (“belt”), Swedish bälte (“belt, cincture, girdle, zone”) and Icelandic belti (“belt”).

noun

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.
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. (astronomy) A collection of small bodies (such as asteroids) which orbit a star.
7. (astronomy) One of certain girdles or zones on the surface of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, supposed to be of the nature of clouds.
8. (military, nautical) 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.
10. A quick drink of liquor.
    Care to join me in a belt of scotch?
11. (usually capitalized) A geographical region known for a particular product, feature or demographic (Corn Belt, Bible Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt).
12. (baseball) 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. (weaponry) A device that holds and feeds cartridges into a belt-fed weapon.
14. (music) 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.
    As previously mentioned, there was unexpected behavior in laryngeal lowering for belt in several singers and unchanged laryngeal height for two, as well as stable opening or widening of the pharyngeal walls, which must be investigated further. 1999, Jeannette Lovetri, Susan Lesh, Peak Woo, “Preliminary Study on the Ability of Trained Singers to Control the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Laryngeal Musculature”, in Journal of Voice, volume 13, number 2, →DOI, page 226
    In Clara's furious rant in Act II, Allsun broke out of her soprano into a belt, which made perfect sense in the moment. 2018, Norman Spivey, Mary Saunder Barton, Cross-Training in the Voice Studio: A Balancing Act, Plural Publishing, page 57

verb

1. (transitive) To encircle.
   The small town was belted by cornfields in all directions.
2. (transitive) To fasten a belt on.
   Edgar belted himself in and turned the car's ignition.
   The rotund man had difficulty belting his pants, and generally wore suspenders to avoid the issue.
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.
5. (transitive, informal, normally belt out) To scream or sing in a loud manner.
   He belted out the national anthem. (Perhaps a derivative or cognate of English bellow),
   Céline Dion belted her iconic song "My Heart Will Go On" in a show-stopping performance at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards on May 21. The legendary singer gave the throwback performance in honor of the 20th anniversary of the hit song from the Titanic soundtrack. 2017-05-22, Mallory Carra, “Celine Dion Is Making Everyone Cry”, in Bustle, BDG Media, retrieved 2022-01-01
6. (transitive) To drink quickly, often in gulps.
   He belted down a shot of whisky.
7. (transitive, colloquial) To hit someone or something.
   The angry player belted the official across the face, and as a result was ejected from the game.
   Bobby belting the ball 1996, “Three Lions”, performed by David Baddiel and Frank Skinner
8. (transitive, baseball) To hit a pitched ball a long distance, usually for a home run.
   He belted that pitch over the grandstand.
9. (intransitive) To move very fast.
   He was really belting along.