belong
Americanverb (used without object)
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belongs,
present (3rd person singular)
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belonged,
past participle, past
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belonging
present participle
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to be in the relation of a member, adherent, inhabitant, etc. (usually followed byto ).
He belongs to the Knights of Columbus.
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to have the proper qualifications, especially social qualifications, to be a member of a group.
You don't belong in this club.
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to be proper or due; be properly or appropriately placed, situated, etc..
Books belong in every home. This belongs on the shelf. He is a statesman who belongs among the great.
verb phrase
verb
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(foll by to) to be the property or possession (of)
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(foll by to) to be bound to (a person, place, or club) by ties of affection, dependence, allegiance, or membership
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to be classified (with)
this plant belongs to the daisy family
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(foll by to) to be a part or adjunct (of)
this top belongs to the smaller box
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to have a proper or usual place
that plate belongs in the cupboard
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informal to be suitable or acceptable, esp socially
although they were rich, they just didn't belong
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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belongsimple
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belongssimple
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have belongedperfect
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has belongedperfect
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am belongingprogressive
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are belongingprogressive
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is belongingprogressive
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have been belongingperfect progressive
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has been belongingperfect progressive
Past
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belongedsimple
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had belongedperfect
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was belongingprogressive
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were belongingprogressive
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had been belongingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of belong
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English belongen, from be- be- + longen “to belong,” verb derivative of long (adjective), Old English gelang “belonging to, dependent on”; cf. along ( def. ), long 3 ( def. )
Explanation
Things that belong to you are your property — in other words, you own them. Your prized rock collection belongs to you. There are several ways to use the verb belong. Items you buy or that are given to you belong to you. You also belong to a group of friends — you fit in, or are a member. When you feel at home somewhere, as though you're meant to be there, you also belong: "I belong in a big city!" The 14th century meaning of belong was "to go along with," from be- and longen, "to go."
Vocabulary lists containing belong
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Bonds belong in nearly every retirement portfolio I’ve seen in almost 30 years of doing this.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
It’s about how to fight with those you want to belong to.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
While many belong to trade associations, it is not a legal requirement.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
“LeVar Burton is my hero. I am a reader, I am a librarian because LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow so powerfully made us believe we belong in books, we belong everywhere.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
However, my heart will always belong to the cello.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
"Mainly the aggression towards Greenland has caused great concern in Iceland and caused many people here to pause and reassess where Iceland belongs."
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Acanthosaura syrax belongs to a group of agamid lizards known as mountain horned dragons, which are distinguished by the spiny crests that extend along the neck and back.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Schools across the country are already wrestling with how much artificial intelligence belongs in education.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
Now, with Pep Guardiola gone from Manchester City, the longest tenure belongs to Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, who has been in his job since 2019.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
“Yes. Horses. Chickens, too. Everything belongs to me. And Ryder. Isn’t that right, boy? Of course, maybe I belong to him and he thinks those are his chickens. Hard to say.”
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The researchers concluded that all three belonged to a primitive stem lineage of insects.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
As much as she belonged to Appalachia, she also belonged to the world.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
“I knew I belonged, and I knew I was going to do well,” Miles said earlier this season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Additional bones were discovered shortly after, and authorities determined they belonged to the same person.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
He was a boy who came from nowhere and belonged to no one.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Meanwhile, in the central Russian region of Tambov, a warehouse belonging to e-commerce giant Wildberries burned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Theater, in other words, that was creating a sense of belonging and not simply stoking an appetite for consuming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
The study also found that medications belonging to the same drug class did not necessarily affect the microbiome in the same way.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Ahead of the meeting, Ukraine has forged ahead with its campaign against Russia's logistics sites, hitting multiple warehouses belonging to e-commerce giant Ozon.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
Thus the printing press took scattered astronomers and astrologers belonging to different cultures and holding varied intellectual commitments and allowed the widespread exchange and comparison of ideas.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
