Beltway

See also: beltway

English

Etymology

Extended from beltway (“freeway encircling a city”); compare also highway.

Proper noun

Beltway

1. A 64-mile Interstate freeway surrounding Washington, D.C..
2. (mostly local usage) The expressway that surrounds another city.
3. (US politics) The US federal government and policy and lobbying organizations, located in Washington, D.C..
   • 2005 May, Bill McKibben, “Climate of Denial”, in Mother Jones‎^[1]:

     But given that it takes 60 votes to beat a filibuster and 66 to override a veto, and given that the GOP has since added four hard-right senators to its total, it’s safe to say that nothing will be happening inside the Beltway anytime soon.

   • 2023 April 17, Christopher Mott, “The Democratist War on Diplomacy”, in The National Interest‎^[2]:

     While not the entirety of the reason why the Beltway struggles to shed its imperial hubris and adapt to the new multipolar world, (much of that is simply complacency) understanding democratism’s hold over the governing elite is vital for explaining the unique hostility found in so much of foreign policy commentary towards a soberer and more realistic appraisal of the world.

Derived terms

• Beltway bandit
• inside-the-Beltway
• outside the Beltway

Adjective

Beltway (comparative more Beltway, superlative most Beltway)

1. Of or relating to the culture of Washington, D.C.; politicized.
   • 1993 January 6, Mark Feeney, “Impeach me tender”, in Boston Globe, page 28:

     Apparently wishing to go Beltway in a big way, the Gap reportedly solicited Clinton spokesman George Stephanopoulos and media adviser Mandy Grunwald to pose for ads, but were turned down.

   • 1997, Kurt Finsterbusch, Annual Editions: Sociology, 97-98:

     In a typical indictment, one columnist recently called some piece of Washington policymaking "too secret, too expert, too Beltway."

   • 2002 [3]

     Your New Yorker article posed the question, "Can the president's education crusade survive Beltway politics?"

   • 2003 September 21, Howard Fineman, “Dean: Not Just A New-School Kinda Guy”, in Newsweek‎^[4]:

     And wouldn't you know, the real-life Dean, in a real-life debate, used a line the show's writers had proposed for him. Nothing more Beltway than that.

   • 2003 July 8, “Unabomber Manifesto - an excerpt”, in sci.astro‎^[5] (Usenet):

     Then he went Beltway and started rooting for the Orioles.

See also

• K Street