black belt

[ blak belt, ]

noun

1. Martial Arts. Compare brown belt, white belt.
   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.
2. a person proficient in some particular skill or endeavor; expert.
3. (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.
4. (initial capital letters) the area of a city or region inhabited primarily by Black people.

black belt

noun

1. 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
2. the black belt
   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

Other Words From

• black-belt adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of black belt¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Back to hidden talents—there is a joke about Judo in the film, and I heard you have a black belt in Taekwondo?

From The Daily Beast

Wood: I have a black belt and used to compete when I was a kid!

From The Daily Beast

It took earning my black belt while I was stationed in Korea to change all that.

From The Daily Beast

Luckily my husband is a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

From The Daily Beast

Carole first wore the blue dress from chain store Reiss with a black belt to Ascot two years ago.

From The Daily Beast

The broad black belt which he wore contained many secret pockets, and from one of these he extracted a ten-dollar bill.

From Project Gutenberg

Reaching into one of the secret pockets of his wide black belt he removed a curiously shaped tool of finest tempered steel.

From Project Gutenberg

His right hand dropped with incredible swiftness to his wide black belt, snatched something from a concealed pocket there.

From Project Gutenberg

Over the black belt of the garden I saw the long line of Queen Street, with here and there a lighted window.

From Project Gutenberg

Let no one suppose the work in the Black Belt or the State is finished.

From Project Gutenberg