belt

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A flexible band, as of leather or cloth, worn around the waist or over a shoulder to support clothing, secure tools or weapons, or serve as decoration.
• noun Something resembling a belt, as a number of machine-gun rounds attached together in a strip.
• noun An encircling route.
• noun A seat belt or safety belt.
• noun A continuous band or chain for transferring motion or power or conveying materials from one wheel or shaft to another.
• noun A band of tough reinforcing material beneath the tread of a tire.
• noun A usually bandlike geographic region that is distinctive in a specific respect. Often used in combination.
• noun Slang A powerful blow; a wallop.
• noun Slang A strong emotional reaction.
• noun Slang A drink of hard liquor.
• transitive verb To equip, support, or attach with a belt.
• transitive verb To encircle or mark in the manner of a belt.
• transitive verb To beat with a belt or strap.
• transitive verb Slang To strike forcefully; hit.
• transitive verb Slang To sing in a loud and forceful manner.
• transitive verb Slang To swig (an alcoholic beverage).
• idiom (below the belt) Not according to the rules; unfairly.
• idiom (tighten (one's) belt) To begin to exercise thrift and frugality.
• idiom (under (one's) belt) In one's possession or experience.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To gird with a belt; specifically, to invest with a distinctive belt, as in knighting some one.
• To fasten or secure with a belt; gird: as, to belt on a sword.
• To encircle; surround as if with a belt or girdle.
• To strike with or as with a belt; strap; flog.
• noun In a war-ship, the side of the vessel, in the vicinity of the water-line, protected by external armor-plating. A complete belt is one in which the armor extends from stem to stern: a partial belt extends over only part of the length.
• noun In archery, a strap for suspending the quiver: usually worn round the waist of the archer.
• noun A broad flat strip or strap of leather or other flexible material, used to encircle the waist; a girdle; cincture; zone; band.
• noun Any broad band or strip of leather or other flexible material, designed to pass round anything, with its ends joined.
• noun Any broad band or stripe or continuous broad line distinguished in color or otherwise from adjacent objects, and encircling or appearing to encircle something.
• noun In masonry, a band or string-course.
• noun That which restrains or confines like a girdle.
• noun A disease among sheep

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb To encircle with, or as with, a belt; to encompass; to surround.
• transitive verb Prov. Eng. To shear, as the buttocks and tails of sheep.
• noun That which engirdles a person or thing; a band or girdle.
• noun That which restrains or confines as a girdle.
• noun Anything that resembles a belt, or that encircles or crosses like a belt; a strip or stripe.
• noun (Arch.) Same as Band, n., 2. A very broad band is more properly termed a belt.
• noun (Astron.) One of certain girdles or zones on the surface of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, supposed to be of the nature of clouds.
• noun (Geog.) A narrow passage or strait.
• noun (Her.) A token or badge of knightly rank.
• noun (Mech.) A band of leather, or other flexible substance, passing around two wheels, and communicating motion from one to the other.
• noun (Nat. Hist.) A band or stripe, as of color, round any organ; or any circular ridge or series of ridges.
• noun thongs used for lacing together the ends of machine belting.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun 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.
• noun A band used as a restraint for safety purposes, such as a seat belt.
• noun A band that is used in a machine to help transfer motion or power.
• noun A powerful blow, often made with a fist or heavy object.
• noun A quick drink of liquor.
• noun usually capitalized A geographical region known for a particular product, feature or demographic (Corn Belt, Bible Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt).