Definition of belong in English:

belong

verb

[no object]

1belong toBe the property of.
‘the vehicle did not belong to him’
- ‘She has been informed of this and we will endeavour to release any such property that belongs to her.’
- ‘He stressed that while the rectory is the vicar's home, the property belongs to the diocese, which made the final decision to carry out the work.’
- ‘The third type of site belongs to a property manager with an inventory of homes in a individual destination.’
- ‘Dispute arose over whether the Broke property, which belongs to friends, was his principle residence.’
- ‘Under it, all property belongs to the state and is equally distributed to farmers who can neither sell it nor leave it unused.’
- ‘This property belongs to the largest private owner of water in Australia.’
- ‘How did the bank give him a loan on a property that belongs to the BMP?’
- ‘Property belongs to the rightful owner, to lawfully use as he or she sees fit.’
- ‘The property belongs to The National Trust and the event takes place on the 26th June.’
- ‘It also makes it more difficult to trace who property belongs to.’
- ‘The property belongs to a York family who stay there in the school holidays and rent it out for the remainder of the year.’
- ‘This tower will be on property belonging to the Masonic Lodge.’
- ‘Property and cash belonging to Meehan and thought to total over €1 million was seized.’
- ‘He says the civil debt recovery company can confiscate property belonging to the offender to cover any award made by the court.’
- ‘They then went on to ransack a hangar belonging to the property, which houses an aeroplane, helicopter and car.’
- ‘They are living in a tiny trailer on the property belonging to a friend of a friend.’
- ‘Property belonging to one of the neighbouring residents was damaged in the incident.’
- ‘The stolen property belonged to employees of the pizzeria.’
- ‘Generally, land belongs jointly to the members of lineages or other kin groups.’
- ‘It has always been said that Westhoughton Cricket Ground doesn't only belong to the members, but belongs to the town in its present location.’
be owned by, be the property of, be the possession of, be in the ownership of, be held by, be at the disposal of, be in the hands of
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1. 1.1Be due to.
  ‘most of the credit belongs to Paul’
  ‘That credit belongs to the early Puritan families.’
  ‘Some of the credit belongs to the new structure we've put in place at the Department of Homeland Security.’
  ‘All the merit belongs to the players and the coach.’
  ‘The merit belongs to all psychologists participating, for they make clinical and health psychology advance through the reflections and opinions displayed on these lines, which describe what we are and design what we want to be.’
  ‘Much of the success belongs to the committee members who gave of their time, talents and ideas to help raise awareness and dollars for such a worthwhile cause.’
2. 1.2(of a contest or period of time) be dominated by.
  ‘the race belonged completely to Fogarty’
  ‘The second round belongs to Jones as he dominates the ring, forcing Filho to accept more punishment than is healthy for any human body.’
  ‘Perhaps some will think that in this, like other contests, victory belongs to the party that is left alone in the arena.’
  ‘The second period of this game belonged to one man, Noel Delaney.’
  ‘The second period belonged to the home side as they scored five goals without reply for an easy success.’
  ‘The opening period belonged to Celtic, although there was a spark missing from their performance.’
  ‘Bacall has played dozens of cameos and character roles in the past 30 years, but her most memorable film parts still belong to her Bogart period.’
  ‘However, the second period belonged to their visitors, who rattled in four unanswered goals to win 4-2.’
  ‘Th home side dominated the opening period and were 3-up at half time, but the second period belonged to Long Lee.’
  ‘If the first half belonged to the Cougars the opening period of the second half certainly belonged to Barrow.’
  ‘Domination of the 110m sprint hurdles, however, belonged to Oxford.’
  ‘Japan had their chances, but in reality the second half belonged to the Juniors as they closed out the game in injury time.’
  ‘The first half was fairly even, but the second half belonged to the Zebras.’
  ‘The second day of the Trophy match belonged to the bowlers as 13 wickets fell in all.’
  ‘However the Bushrangers seemed set to prove that the match belonged to them.’
  ‘The last twenty minutes of the match belonged to Tottenham, appearing in their sixth Final.’
2belong toBe a member of (a particular group or organization)
‘he belonged to the local cricket club’
- ‘Many families in the area had members who belonged to both organizations.’
- ‘Most of the organization's members belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.’
- ‘But nobody calls it a front for any political organisation, though it has many members who belong to political organisations.’
- ‘Why should members bother to belong to an organisation that negotiates such a dismal contract?’
- ‘What I love about this group is that it belongs to the members - it's their group and they are in control 100 per cent.’
- ‘She belongs to the same charity organization I do, although I am not sure why.’
- ‘To accommodate this situation, the National Party would have to drop its policy of preventing members from belonging to other political parties.’
- ‘As, at this stage, most of the bids will still be in the ring, all those committee members belonging to the competing countries will be barred from this executive meeting.’
- ‘They were also accused of belonging to an illegal organization.’
- ‘They were certified as being members of, or belonging to, or supporting or assisting, an international terrorist group.’
- ‘He recalls that in Houston, people belonging to a Gandhian organization had tried to stop the performances.’
- ‘Equity would maintain anyone not belonging to its organization is not a professional.’
- ‘Well, I belonged to similar organizations in college, and let's just say it wouldn't surprise me.’
- ‘The views I present to you today are solely my own and not those of any client I represent or organization I belong to.’
- ‘Their handlers belong to an organization that promotes animal welfare.’
- ‘Forty-one UK councillors, three London Assembly members and two MEPs belong to the Green Party’
- ‘We are very concerned that people in strategic organizations and people who are well qualified can belong to this organization.’
- ‘A person commits an offence if he belongs or professes to belong to a prescribed organisation.’
- ‘We mourn them also as fellow citizens, killed because they belong to the greater whole to which we also all belong.’
- ‘People, irrespective of the economic strata to which they belong, have become quality conscious.’
be a member of, be in, be included in, be affiliated to, be allied to, be associated with, be connected to, be linked to, be an adherent of
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1. 2.1usually with adverbial of place (of a person) have an affinity for a specified place or situation.
  ‘she is a stranger, and doesn't belong here’
  ‘you and me, we belong together’
  ‘As we have already seen, despite their races, regardless of their cultural differences, Mehuru and Frances do belong together.’
  ‘You are right, we don't belong together, we may love each other, but we aren't in love with one another.’
  ‘If you don't belong to a group, then you don't belong here.’
  ‘Then, suddenly, he will put together a performance that indicates that he does belong there after all.’
  ‘While we have decided to continue attending such events we debated over it for some time. We do not want to put ourselves in a situation where we would feel like we don't belong.’
  ‘Wise woman that she was, she understood this was a situation where she didn't belong.’
  ‘Through the imposing doors, facing the multitudes beyond the host stand, you realize you don't belong here.’
  ‘But there was something in the way he just stood that made it seem he didn't belong.’
  ‘He describes himself as perpetually nervous, afraid someone's going to wake him from the dream and put him back in jail, where he probably belongs.’
  ‘I mean, he did so much for the New York theater that I think he really belongs in some very, very special place, as one of the great New Yorkers.’
  ‘He finds a man he can love, and a place in which he finally belongs, a place where life can be led to a Magnetic Fields soundtrack.’
  ‘I love my home, I love my job, I love belonging here, and I love this place, but it's trying my patience.’
  ‘The noise that everybody made and the support that they gave me when I went off the court made me feel like I almost belonged there.’
  ‘Because even in Egypt I have never belonged, but suddenly it hit me when we arrived in Greece that my foreignness gave me freedom.’
  ‘At an intersection we happened upon an extraordinary scene, and for the first time we felt as if we actually belonged there in the streets.’
  ‘Sometimes we'd move back to this dilapidated family home and we would realize again that this was where we really belonged.’
  ‘But he also belonged, in a geographical sense, to my own home state of Karnataka.’
  ‘She realised that she knew little about the community to which she actually belonged.’
  ‘It will also help strengthen the feeling of belonging among members.’
  ‘Changes in the suburbs will help foster a sense of genuine belonging and personal security.’
  fit in, be suited to, have a rightful place, have a home, be part of
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2. 2.2Have the right personal or social qualities to be a member of a particular group.
  ‘young people are generally very anxious to belong’
  ‘So it's usually up to technology project leaders wanting a seat at the CEO's table to convince management committee members that they belong.’
  ‘Society has an obligation to ensure that all its members are able to belong.’
  ‘We want to point to the urgent need to examine the nature and effects of our very limited repertoire of ways of making sense of being, belonging and social order.’
  ‘Others have similar needs for social and ethnic belonging.’
  ‘Well I guess people belong to exclusive clubs, they want to belong for one reason or another.’
  ‘Apparently, to belong to an ethnic/racial group you just have to say you belong.’
  ‘I belong to a family which belongs socially and religiously to Kashmir.’
  belonging, associateship
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3with adverbial of place (of a thing) be rightly placed in a specified position.
‘he put the rifle back in the locker where it belonged’
‘such statements do not belong in a modern student textbook’
- ‘You may be tempted to lay the blame where it rightly belongs, on others.’
- ‘Have a look at what they actually agreed to and what has been done and then place the blame where it actually belongs.’
- ‘Man Ray was experimenting with new techniques and compositions and many of the Surrealists used photography to signal that their art belonged firmly in the modern, mechanical world.’
- ‘The buck is passed back where it rightly belongs.’
- ‘I seek to change the focus of politics in Ireland away from money and back to families, where it rightly belongs.’
- ‘Those who are worried about these traditions falling into oblivion should preserve them in the archives where they rightly belong.’
- ‘It's now time for the people of the town to get behind them and help them get back where they rightly belong, but let's have fun on the way.’
- ‘And thus the ideas of time and space have each its peculiar and exclusive relations; position and figure belonging only to space, while repetition and rhythm are appropriate to time.’
- ‘But Kuo said that the blame for such disasters belongs on public construction projects that used ecological unfriendly engineering methods.’
- ‘Moreover, the basis of the Apollonian-Dionysian opposition belongs squarely within the modern philosophy of the Subject.’
- ‘The harmonies belong more to modern concert music than to pop.’
- ‘If that means we have to stake a position, put down a marker that jobs belong here and your job belongs here, then we should do it and not be afraid to say it.’
- ‘Although the word ‘did’ is not actually in the text itself, as indicated by the italics in the KJV, it rightly belongs there.’
- ‘This money rightly belongs in the pockets of our 3 million taxpayers and should not have been collected in the first place.’
- ‘It was fulfilling to see a club that has battled against adversity for so long finally get back to where they believe they rightly belong.’
- ‘He'd once asked a conference of chief executive officers to which leading company the statement belonged.’
- ‘It's time to place the blame for violence where it truly belongs, on the perpetrator and not the tool.’
- ‘Perhaps, like me, you think that too much blame is placed where it doesn't belong.’
- ‘It's arguable that religious education belongs in the home and in the churches, and not in the public schools of a country with a constitution that provides for the separation of church and state.’
- ‘What you do get though is a penetrating and revealing look at an important artist, and if you have the slightest interest in the man, this volume belongs on your shelf.’
1. 3.1Be rightly assigned to a specified category.
  ‘these compounds belong to a class of chemical mediators called kairomones’
  ‘Still others may belong to poorly known metazoan taxa that may or may not belong in any known phyla, and others are probably too poorly preserved to be informative.’
  ‘So, the Tulip Revolution belongs in the same category as the Orange Revolution, the Rose Revolution, etc.’
  ‘Quicksilver is set in the late seventeenth century, and belongs in a category of novels which some would call historical, or picaresque, or possible just an adventure story.’
  ‘Therefore cannabis, unlike drugs, which are synthetically made by man or derived from plant sources - such as heroin and cocaine, do not belong in the same category.’
  ‘I'll let you decide which category that belongs in.’
  ‘But, of course, differences arise over what belongs in each category.’
  ‘This advice or suggestion, a standard supportive technique, belongs in Category 2.’
  ‘As portrayed here, The Alamo belongs in the latter category.’
  ‘Divorce presents a particular problem because, as a phenomenon, it belongs under two categories at once.’
  ‘And indeed, the majority of inventions chosen do belong in this category.’
  ‘The prints of the artists Hao Ping or Hao Boyi belong into this category.’
  ‘Sea salt is the category to which belong many of the kinds of salt specially prized by connoisseurs.’
  ‘If you see something you think belongs in a different category, by all means let me know.’
  ‘Actually that belongs in a bottom five category.’
  ‘Mosaic tiles used to belong in the same design category as sponging, rag rolling and other DIY paint effects.’
  ‘This link seems to indicate that there is indeed a human species, Homo Sapiens, to the subspecies of which, Homo Sapiens Sapiens all modern humans belong.’
  ‘Homo, the genus to which modern humans belong, appears in the east African fossil record about 2.4 Ma ago.’
  have a place, be located, be situated, be found, lie, stand, be included, be classed, be classified, be categorized
  View synonyms

Origin

Old English belangian, of Germanic origin.

Pronunciation

belong

/bɪˈlɒŋ/

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