Meaning of Heartland | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Synonym of heart (“the seat of the affections or love”).
2. Also in the plural form heartlands:
3. The interior part of a region, especially when contrasted with coastal parts or when regarded as particularly powerful or significant.
4. In the geopolitical theory of the English geographer Halford John Mackinder (1861–1947): the interior of the world island comprising north-central Eurasia regarded as politically powerful.
   specifically
5. Residential districts and planning areas outside the city centre; the new towns of Singapore collectively.
   Singapore, in-plural, specifically
6. The states in the centre of the United States, chiefly regarded as politically and socially conservative; also, the people living in such states collectively.
   US, attributive, often, specifically
7. A region or part of a region particularly associated with or significant for a characteristic, such as an activity, a faith, support for a political party or other organization, etc.

Equivalents

Examples

“[R]ound the Pole all three powers lay⟳ claim⟳ to enormous territories which in fact are largely uninhabited and unexplored: but the balance of power always remains roughly even, and the territory which forms the heartland of each super-state always remains inviolate.”

“Israel intercepted a missile fired by Hezbollah near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, an unprecedented attack by the militant group that reached deep into the country’s commercial heartlands and marked a new escalatory step in the conflict between the two sides.”

“Those in the HDB [Housing and Development Board⟳] heartland will be able to vote⟳ in the airconditioned comfort of their community centres […]”

“Take⟳ heart, small-time shopkeepers in the heartlands.”

“I applaud the organising committee's decision to hold⟳ the concert in the heartlands.”

“The home counties are the Conservative heartland.”

“We stayed in the heartland of the French wine-growing regions.”

CEFR level