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Glite Dictionary
Rustbelt

Rustbelt

1 6.7
A region in the northeastern and midwestern United States where many factories closed and jobs were lost
  • noun
  • /ˈrʌstˌbɛlt/
  • US
translation icon : Cinturón de óxido
  • by Tom, aka Rusty Rustbelt
  • Rustbelt companies

Examples

  • But the effect is singular: so long as the president can hold his blue-collar Rustbelt advances, he remains the favorite to reach 270 Electoral College votes.

    Blog text (23)

  • Last spring, I wrote about what I saw to be a sharp downturn in the economy in the "rustbelt" states, particularly Michigan.

    Blog text (1)

  • Can Obama hold his gains among working-class whites in the Rustbelt?

    Blog text (23)

  • A charter member of the Rustbelt and a place of small farms unable to compete with modern agribusiness, Ohio has fallen hard over the past fifty years.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The government came to GM's rescue and let other companies die because there were millions of votes at stake in the rustbelt states of Ohio and Michigan and a union state like Pennsylvania.

    Blog text (8)

  • But now polls show Obama facing a more precarious situation in all of those states (except Nevada) than in the central Rustbelt battlegrounds of Ohio and Wisconsin.

    Blog text (23)

  • Many factories in the Rustbelt have closed, leading to significant economic challenges for the local communities.

  • The Rustbelt region is known for its history of steel manufacturing and recent economic decline.

  • Efforts to revitalize the Rustbelt have included attracting technology companies to replace lost manufacturing jobs.

Synonyms

Rust Belt
vsRustbelt
  • US
9 4.9

A region of the northeastern and midwestern United States with many old factories and fewer people

focuses specifically on decline of once strong manufacturing like steel and textiles

Antonyms

Sun Belt
  • US
2 3.6

A warm part of the southern and southwestern United States that attracts people and businesses

Surface Forms

Rustbelt singular
Rustbelts plural

Morphology

Rustbelt = rust + belt (semi-transparent) = rust + belt

The components 'rust' and 'belt' are clear, but 'belt' is used metaphorically for a region and the specialised socio-economic meaning ('area of industrial decline') is not fully derivable for all learners.

Etymology

The word Rustbelt comes from rust (the red-brown decay that forms on metal) and belt ('a band' or area of land), so it gives a simple picture of a wide area where old factories and steel works have become rusty and worn. That's why Rustbelt is used for parts of the northeastern and midwestern United States where heavy industry has declined and many towns lost jobs.