Cotton Belt

American  

noun

1. (sometimes lowercase) the part of the southern U.S. where cotton is grown, originally Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, but now often extended to include parts of Texas and California.

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cotton belt British  

noun

1. a belt of land in the southeastern US that specializes in the production of cotton

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Etymology

Origin of Cotton Belt

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

In many of the areas of the Cotton Belt, slaves were the majority of the population.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025

The co-authors chose communities to study in Appalachia, South Texas and the southern Cotton Belt that were representative from the bottom 200 of their list.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2023

Easily the raunchiest Confederate relic north of the Cotton Belt is Maryland’s never-in-mode state song, “Maryland, My Maryland.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 9, 2021

“The name Cotton Belt Route was considered, too, but Dixie was chosen to promote the South.”

From New York Times • Jan. 20, 2020

Then I went to work with the Cotton Belt.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 1 by Work Projects Administration