Word: belt Part of Speech: noun 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”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk belte (“belt”), Swedish bälte (“belt, cincture, girdle, zone”), Faroese and Icelandic belti (“belt”). Pronunciation: /ˈbɛlt/, [ˈbɛlt] 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. Example: As part of the act, the fat clown's belt broke, causing his pants to fall down. Example: Master leathercrafter does handcrafted wallets, belts, purses, handbags etc., supporting self and helpers. Good enough to carve fantst art and portraits into leather. 2. A band used as a restraint for safety purposes, such as a seat belt. Example: 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. Example: 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. Example: a belt of trees; a belt of sand 5. A trophy in the shape of a belt, generally awarded for martial arts. Example: 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. Example: 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. Example: 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. Example: Care to join me in a belt of scotch? 11. A geographical region known for a particular product, feature or demographic (Corn Belt, Bible Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt). Labels: capitalized, usually 12. The part of the strike zone at the height of the batter's waist. Example: 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. Example: Both auditionees had great ranges but Diamond had the strong belt we really need for the finale. Example: 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. 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. Example: 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. Example: Most foreland fold and thrust belts are linear or arcuate belts of folds and thrust faults that form a marginal part of an orogenic belt between an undeformed craton and a more intensely deformed inner zone.