heartland

noun

heart·land | \ ˈhärt-ˌland

Definition of heartland

: a central area: such as

a : a central land area (such as northern Eurasia) having strategic advantages

b : the central geographical region of the U.S. in which mainstream or traditional values predominate

c : a region where something (such as an industry or activity) most strongly thrives the heartland of high technology

Examples of heartland in a Sentence

We drove into Scotland's heartland. a politician who is popular in the American heartland the heartland of high technology

Recent Examples on the Web

Across the conservative heartland, Democrats hope the backlash will help revive their party’s political strength. — Washington Post, "Angry Republican teachers create split inside Oklahoma GOP," 21 June 2018 Those measures appear to be aimed at America's heartland, which helped lift Trump into the White House. — Danielle Paquette And Emily Rauhala, chicagotribune.com, "Trade war with China is finally here — and it won't be pretty," 5 July 2018 Soy yields on the best Amur farms are less than half the average reaped by farmers in Brazil’s soy heartland, from which China already receives the bulk of its soy imports. — Anatoly Kurmanaev, WSJ, "A Surprise Winner From the U.S.-China Trade Spat: Russian Soybean Farmers," 21 Feb. 2019 Like the rest of the region, Assam is blessed with copious natural resources and sparsely populated areas, relative to the dusty plains of India’s heartland. — The Economist, "Elections in north-east India highlight the BJP’s political savvy," 22 Feb. 2018 The $200-billion move came in response to Beijing’s retaliation for the first set of U.S. duties, which primarily targeted farmers in America’s heartland, but the new tariffs won’t be imposed until the end of a two-month period for public comment. — Danielle Paquette, Washington Post, "China tells the U.S. to stop hurting itself in the trade war," 11 July 2018 In the Miss America heartland, where state pageants determine who walks on stage at Boardwalk Hall, these are uneasy times. — Amy S. Rosenberg, Philly.com, "In the Miss America heartland, contestants stand by their swimsuits," 15 June 2018 In the 1st Congressional District, Cori Bush is running against an incumbent Democrat, William Lacy Clay, in a test of whether the progressive playbook pioneered by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York can work in the heartland. — Maggie Astor, The Seattle Times, "5 states are voting today. Here’s what to watch.," 7 Aug. 2018 Soon after, a group of her fellow nuns launched a two-week public protest in India’s Catholic heartland, demanding the bishop’s arrest. — Tim Sullivan, The Seattle Times, "AP finds long history of nuns abused by priests in India," 1 Jan. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'heartland.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.