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:
You don’t own a boat or belong to an expensive country club, and you have $4 million in investments waiting for you to tap.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
She also referenced the chorus of criticism that many homes along California's coast belong to the wealthy or are second homes, and that they never should've been built on such a vulnerable landscape.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
Some go their whole lives searching for it, aching to find where they belong, or what gives them purpose.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
The petition argues that Kumar exercised powers that belong to the commission collectively and seeks a ruling that any such actions were unauthorised.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
“Those belong to my mom. They’re her favorites,” Michael said.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Let’s get the awkward stuff out of the way: the inheritance belongs to him.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Fe5GeTe2, discovered seven years ago, belongs to a family of materials known as van der Waals magnets.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
The former tattoo artist behind JiJi’s Jazz Club is reminding Angelenos that jazz belongs to everyone, and that gathering, in a city like L.A., is its own act of resistance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Sophie lives by herself in a small, tatty apartment that belongs to her vile ex-husband, Paul.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
It belongs to the critic, who decides what it means.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
The protist belonged to a previously unidentified species, and its genetic instructions appeared to operate according to an unusual set of rules.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
In telework plans signed over several years, the employee submitted a California address, which he explained later had belonged to a family member.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
His family had a big house, belonged to a country club and paid for his college and graduate school.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
He belonged to a family of the founders of Be’eri.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
We borrowed many initially because we did not have dogs and they came and went, ran for us awhile, then belonged to someone else.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Starting in late 2023, Oimakhmadov’s Binance account had received more than $10 million from digital wallets later identified by Israel’s Defense Ministry as belonging to the IRGC.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Earlier this year, he was acquitted of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to a number of sports bodies in Portugal, including Benfica.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Archaeologists from La Trobe University have described 18 newly published hominin fossils from South Africa, including a second skull fragment belonging to Homo erectus.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
A drone caused a fire at a data centre belonging to Russian technology company Yandex, the company told AFP Thursday, in the first such strike of its kind on Russia.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
It was through his collaboration with other scientists that Pascal came to have the sense of belonging to a collectivity greater than himself.
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.
