Black belt

noun, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The highest belt colour in various martial arts.
  2. 2
    A geographic region where the residents are predominantly or exclusively African-American. Southern, US

    "Bernard Cosman found that in Georgia, it was the black belt whites who gave Goldwater his largest percentage of the vote."

  3. 3
    Alternative letter-case form of black belt. alt-of

    "Together they reveal a national culture split among three regions: cities and their suburbs; rural areas; and what we’re calling the extended Black Belt — a swath that extends from the Mississippi River along the Eastern Seaboard up to Washington, but also including city centers and other places with large nonwhite populations."

  4. 4
    a black sash worn to show expert standards in the martial arts (judo or karate) wordnet
  5. 5
    Someone who has attained the black belt in martial arts.

    "Raymond is a black belt in karate."

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    A roughly crescent-shaped geological formation of dark fertile soil in the Southern United States.

    "The Black Belt region, also called the Black Prairie, extends 300 miles across central Alabama and northeast Mississippi and into Tennessee. […] The dark soil for which the Black Belt was named was once famous for its richness and the abundant cotton produced in it."

  2. 7
    a person who attained the rank of expert in the martial arts (judo or karate) wordnet
  3. 8
    Great skill in any field. colloquial, figuratively
  4. 9
    A senior manager who is expert in one of various management systems such as Six Sigma or DMAIC and acts in a project leader or mentor role.

    "I had the good fortune of being engaged to participate as a trainer to GE Capital Corporation, where we helped to launch their now well-known and highly regarded black belt program."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Calque of Japanese 黒帯 (kuroobi)

Etymology 2

From black + belt, originally named after the dark soil.

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