heartland

noun

1. 1

   Synonym of heart (“the seat of the affections or love”).

2. 2

   Also in the plural form heartlands: The interior part of a region, especially when contrasted with coastal parts or when regarded as particularly powerful or significant.

   [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.

3. 3

   Also in the plural form heartlands: 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.

4. 4

   Also in the plural form heartlands: Residential districts and planning areas outside the city centre; the new towns of Singapore collectively.

   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.

5. 5

   Also in the plural form heartlands: The states in the centre of the United States, chiefly regarded as politically and socially conservative; also, the people living in such states collectively.

6. 6

   Also in the plural form heartlands: 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.

   The home counties are the Conservative heartland.

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

Forms

plural

heartlands