Belt (bĕlt), n. [AS. belt; akin to Icel. belti, Sw. bälte, Dan. bælte, OHG. balz, L. balteus, Ir. & Gael. balt border, belt.] 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.) Same as Band, n., 2. A very broad band is more properly termed a belt.
5. (Astron.) 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.) A narrow passage or strait; as, the Great Belt and the Lesser Belt, leading to the Baltic Sea.
7. (Her.) A token or badge of knightly rank.
8. (Mech.) A band of leather, or other flexible substance, passing around two wheels, and communicating motion from one to the other. [See Illust. of Pulley.]
9. (Nat. Hist.) 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.