beltway

[ belt-wey ]
See synonyms for beltway on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Also called belt highway. a highway around the perimeter of an urban area.

  2. the Beltway, the Washington, D.C., area within the highway that encircles it.

Origin of beltway

1
First recorded in 1950–55; belt + way1

Words Nearby beltway

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use beltway in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for beltway

beltway

/ (ˈbɛltˌweɪ) /


noun
  1. the usual US name for a ring road

  2. (usually with capital)

    • the people and institutions located in the area bounded by the Washington Beltway, taken to be politically and socially out of touch with the rest of America and much given to political intrigue

    • (as modifier): Beltway Cassandras

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012