sun belt

[suhn-belt]

Sun·belt

[suhn-belt]
noun (sometimes lowercase)
the southern and southwestern region of the U.S.
Also, Sun Belt.


Origin:
1950–55
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Sun belt is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Slang Dictionary

sun belt definition


  1. n.
    the southern U.S. states, where it is generally warm and sunny. (See also rust belt.) : I want to retire to the sun belt.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

sun belt

The southern and southwestern United States, as in Retirees have been moving to the sun belt for years. It is so called for its warm climate. [Mid-1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

Sun Belt

region comprising 15 southern states in the United States and extending from Virginia and Florida in the southeast through Nevada in the southwest, and also including southern California. Between 1970 and 1990, the South grew in population by 36 percent and the West by 51 percent, both well above the national average. Large in-migration, along with a high birth rate and a decline in out-migration, all contributed to rapid growth of both the Sun Belt's population and manufacturing activities. Improvements in transportation and communications, abundant air conditioning in summer, and a favourable winter climate are attractive forces for retirees as well as workers

Learn more about Sun Belt with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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