belter

plural belters

1. historicalrareA maker or worker of belts.

plural belters

1. UKinformalAnything that is particularly good of its class.

   When the second goal came, it was a belter - Fabregas launching an inch-perfect ball over the top for Van Persie to volley in without breaking stride.

   2011 January 22, Ian Hughes, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Wigan”, in BBC

2. UKinformalA very good-looking person.

plural belters

1. One who sings forcefully.
2. One who uses the specific vocal technique of belting.
3. A song suitable for forceful singing.

plural belters

1. literatureA person who mines asteroids for minerals or lives in the vicinity of an asteroid belt.

   The Belters watched like men mesmerized. They were spacemen, and used to strange sights, but they would never again see anything as strange as a world burning.

   1965 March 28, Larry Niven, World of Ptavvs

comparative more belter · superlative most belter

1. GeordiealternativeAlternative spelling of belta (“fantastic; excellent”).

plural Belters

1. literatureAn inhabitant of an asteroid belt, especially that between Mars and Jupiter.

   Earth and Mars have been stepping on the necks of the Belters out here for over 100 years and I didn't want to be the boot.

   2015 December 22, Remembering the Cant (The Expanse), season 1, episode 3, spoken by Jim Holden (Steven Strait)

   2 more examples

   You noticed a habit of mine once. I never make gestures. All Belters have that trait. It's because on a small mining ship you could hit something waving your arms around.

   1966 February, Larry Niven, “The Warriors”, in If, volume 16, number 2 (#99 overall), page 152

   He also decided that Belters wouldn’t use the term “bullshit,” because there would be no bulls in the Belt. Instead, they would come up with a uniquely Belter curse, “kaka felota,” a term for what happens when your toilet backs up in low gravity and shit floats all over the place. (“Kata felota” literally means “floating shit.”)

   2019 December 22, Annalee Newitz and Cyrus Farivar, “Nick Farmer knows dozens of languages, so he invented one for The Expanse”, in Ars Technica, archived from the original on 25 Feb 2021

1. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Belter Creole.

   1 more example

   To communicate, they evolve a creole called Belter, which becomes the lingua franca for what is essentially the solar system’s new proletariat. […] The resulting Belter creole is a crazy mix of English, Chinese, romance languages like French, German, Persian, Hebrew, Zulu, and a few other surprises. Farmer says he has over 1,000 Belter words in his personal dictionary, and he keeps adding more as the show’s producers and fans request them.

   2019 December 22, Annalee Newitz and Cyrus Farivar, “Nick Farmer knows dozens of languages, so he invented one for The Expanse”, in Ars Technica, archived from the original on 25 Feb 2021