heartland
Americannoun
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the part of a region considered essential to the viability and survival of the whole, especially a central land area relatively invulnerable to attack and capable of economic and political self-sufficiency.
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any central area, as of a state, nation, or continent.
a vineyard in California's heartland.
noun
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the central region of a country or continent
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the core or most vital area
the industrial heartland of England
Etymology
Origin of heartland
Vocabulary lists containing heartland
Political Geography - Middle School
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Political Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cannock Chase has also been historically considered a Labour heartland, and at the district council the party held 18 of the 36 seats going into Thursday's election.
From BBC • May 8, 2026
During his 2005 confirmation hearings to become chief justice, Roberts described an idyllic heartland childhood lifted from a John Cougar Mellencamp song, all “endless fields” that were “punctuated by an isolated silo or a barn.”
From Slate • May 7, 2026
But the sport’s actual heartland, where engineers concoct the most sophisticated machines in motor sports, could hardly be farther from superyachts and velvet ropes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
That cautious approach, Parrot says, is rooted in the club's role as the standard-bearer for a former mining heartland.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
About a century before our imaginary surveillance tour, though, the Maya heartland entered a kind of Dark Ages.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
