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

to belt up

1 2.6
To fasten your seatbelt when you are in a car or plane
  • phrasal verb
  • /bɛlt ʌp/
  • UK
translation icon : abrocharse el cinturón
  • The flight attendant reminded us to belt up before takeoff.

He'd get on a plane, put everything away, belt up, and before the plane even took off, he'd be dead asleep.

Examples

  • ♪ Better wear your seat belt and strap up...

    The Bad Guys 2 (2025)

  • Everybody seat belt up.

    Malibu Rescue (2019)

  • - Cinch your belt up, Coop.

    Mountain Men (2014)

  • He'd get on a plane, put everything away, belt up, and before the plane even took off, he'd be dead asleep.

    Mulligan Brothers Interviews

  • He'd get on a plane, put everything away, belt up, and before the plane even took off, he'd be dead asleep.

    Mulligan Brothers Interviews

  • Before we start driving, please belt up for your safety.

  • After everyone had settled in the car, the driver said, 'OK, let's belt up and hit the road.'

Synonyms

to buckle
vsto belt up
88 1.6

To fasten a belt or strap with a clasp

is specific to securing passengers in vehicles rather than fastening objects generally
to buckle up
vsto belt up
45 3.9

Fasten a seatbelt or get ready for a difficult, exciting time

refers only to physically securing a passenger, not to figurative preparation
to fasten your seat belt
vsto belt up
18 1.7

Buckle the belt across your body to stay safe in a car or plane

is used mainly for travel in cars rather than in aircraft

Antonyms

to remove
∞ 1.5

To move something or someone away from a place

to unfasten
5 3.4

To open something by undoing a button or zipper

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 The phrase is simply the literal command to fasten a belt or 'seatbelt' before travel, so it means to buckle up for safety.