black belt

[ blak belt for 1, 2; blak belt, belt for 3, 4 ]
/ ˈblæk ˌbɛlt for 1, 2; ˈblæk ˈbɛlt, ˌbɛlt for 3, 4 /

noun

(initial capital letters) a narrow belt of dark-colored, calcareous soils in central Alabama and Mississippi highly adapted to agriculture, especially the growing of cotton.
the area of a city or region inhabited primarily by blacks.
Martial Arts.
  1. a black cloth waistband conferred upon a participant in one of the martial arts, as judo or karate, to indicate a degree of expertise of the highest rank.
  2. a person who has obtained such rank.
  3. the rank itself.Compare brown belt, white belt.
a person proficient in some particular skill or endeavor; expert.

Origin of black belt

First recorded in 1865–70

OTHER WORDS FROM black belt

black-belt, adjective

Words nearby black belt

black bass, black bean, black bear, black beauty, black beetle, black belt, black bile, black bindweed, black birch, black blizzard, black bloc

British Dictionary definitions for black belt

black belt

noun

martial arts
  1. a black belt worn by an instructor or expert competitor in the dan grades, usually from first to fifth dan
  2. a person entitled to wear this
the black belt a region of the southern US extending from Georgia across central Alabama and Mississippi, in which the population contains a large number of Black people: also noted for its fertile black soil