Category:Belt

Belt, n. Etym: [AS. belt; akin to Icel. belti, Sw. bälte, Dan. bælte, OHG. balz, L. balteus, Ir. & Gael. balt bo

1. That which engirdles a person or thing; a band or girdle; as, a lady's belt; a sword belt. The shining belt with gold inlaid. Dryden.

2. That which restrains or confines as a girdle. He cannot buckle his distempered cause Within the belt of rule. Shak.

3. Anything that resembles a belt, or that encircles or crosses like a belt; a strip or stripe; as, a belt of trees; a belt of sand.

4. (Arch.)

Defn: Same as Band, n., 2. A very broad band is more properly termed a belt.

5. (Astron.)

Defn: One of certain girdles or zones on the surface of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, supposed to be of the nature of clouds.

6. (Geog.)

Defn: A narrow passage or strait; as, the Great Belt and the Lesser Belt, leading to the Baltic Sea.

7. (Her.)

Defn: A token or badge of knightly rank.

8. (Mech.)

Defn: A band of leather, or other flexible substance, passing around two wheels, and communicating motion from one to the other.

Note: [See Illust. of Pulley.]

9. (Nat. Hist.)

Defn: A band or stripe, as of color, round any organ; or any circular ridge or series of ridges. Belt lacing, thongs used for lacing together the ends of machine belting.

Belt, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Belted; p. pr. & vb. n. Belting.]

Defn: To encircle with, or as with, a belt; to encompass; to surround. A coarse black robe belted round the waist. C. Reade. They belt him round with hearts undaunted. Wordsworth.

2. To shear, as the buttocks and tails of sheep. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.