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Glite Dictionary
🚗 To fasten seatbelt 🤫 To be quiet
to belt up

to belt up

9.2
To tell someone to stop talking and be quiet
  • phrasal verb
  • /bɛlt ʌp/
  • Offensive
translation icon : callarse
  • When she kept interrupting, I finally told her to belt up so I could finish my story.

Examples

  • Belt up!

    Star! (1968)

  • - Oh, belt up!

    Star! (1968)

  • - Belt up!

    Star! (1968)

  • Belt up!

    Star! (1968)

  • The teacher asked the students to belt up while she explained the new lesson.

  • Whenever the noise gets too loud, I remind everyone to belt up for a few minutes.

Synonyms

to shut up
vsto belt up
  • Offensive
∞ 4.1

Tell someone to be quiet in a rude or angry way

is the British informal command form rather than a general term
to knock it off
vsto belt up
  • Informal
321 8.1

Tell someone to stop doing something annoying

is specifically about stopping speech or making someone be quiet
to be quiet
vsto belt up
231 1.0

To stop making noise or talking

is the informal British command form rather than a neutral phrase
to quiet down
vsto belt up
  • Informal
42 2.0

Make people or things less noisy and less active

is a direct spoken order to stop talking rather than reduce general noise
to pipe down
vsto belt up
  • Informal
35 7.1

To become quiet or tell someone to stop making noise

is the specifically British informal command form
to hush
vsto belt up
33 3.4

Make a person or thing quiet so others stop making noise

is a blunt informal command rather than gentle quieting
to clam up
vsto belt up
  • Informal
14 6.6

Stop talking suddenly because you are nervous or do not want to say anything

is usually a spoken command to force silence not an involuntary reaction
to close up
vsto belt up
10 4.8

To stop talking and say nothing

is commonly used to tell someone to be quiet rather than to describe silence
to put a sock in it
vsto belt up
  • UK
9 9.1

Tell someone to be quiet

is a British informal command often shorter and more direct
to shut one's mouth
vsto belt up
  • Informal
4 4.4

To stop talking to keep a secret or when told to be quiet

is a British informal command used to make someone stop talking
to button up
vsto belt up
  • Informal
3 7.1

To stop talking suddenly and not answer questions

is usually an instruction telling someone to be quiet not a refusal to speak
to hold one's tongue
vsto belt up
  • Informal
3 5.4

To stay silent to avoid saying something rude

is commonly a commanding phrase telling someone to stop talking rather than self restraint
to keep mum
vsto belt up
  • Informal
3 7.5

Stay quiet about something private

is a direct spoken order to stop talking rather than secrecy
to hush up
vsto belt up
  • Informal
2 5.0

Make someone stop talking and be quiet

is the British informal imperative form rather than a general quieting verb
to shut one's gob
vsto belt up
  • UK
9.9

To tell someone rudely to be quiet

is used both as a command and to mean becoming silent
to wheesht
vsto belt up
  • UK
9.9

To tell someone to be quiet in a soft voice

is British informal and more general than specifically Scottish usage
to shut one's assmouth
vsto belt up
  • Offensive
9.9

Tells someone to be quiet in a rude way

is informal British speech but less crude in tone
to shh
vsto belt up
  • Informal
8.3

Tell someone to be quiet by making a soft sound with your mouth

is a British informal command rather than a hush sound
to zip someone's lip
vsto belt up
  • Informal
8.4

To keep quiet and not tell others about something

is used as a general British order to be quiet rather than secrecy
to button one's lip
vsto belt up
  • Informal
7.2

To keep quiet on purpose and not tell others

is usually a spoken command to make someone stop speaking rather than a choice
to dummy up
vsto belt up
  • Archaic
9.6

Refuse to speak or suddenly stop talking when asked

is normally an instruction telling someone to be quiet not a refusal

Antonyms

talk
947 1.0

A discussion where people share ideas or feelings

to speak up
43 2.0

Talk more loudly so people can hear you

How Forceful

to shut up
  • Offensive
∞ 4.1
to belt up
  • Offensive
9.2
to pipe down
  • Informal
35 7.1
to hush
33 3.4
to be quiet
231 1.0

Surface Forms

belt up infinitive
belted up past
belted up past participle
belting up present participle
belts up third person singular

Morphology

belt + up

The meaning 'to fasten a seatbelt' follows directly from combining 'belt' (to fasten with a belt) with the particle 'up', which commonly signals securing or completing an action; a B1 learner who knows these constituents can reasonably infer fastening a belt around oneself. This verb+particle composition is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern in English phrasal verbs, so the expression is transparently compositional rather than idiomatic.

Etymology

Belt up One popular story says the order comes from the image of pulling a belt across the mouth and fastening it up to stop someone talking, so it now means 'be quiet'.