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

See heartland defined for English-language learners

See heartland defined for kids

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 of heartland from the Web

Li Zhanshu, 67 Before becoming Xi’s chief of staff in 2012, Li Zhanshu toiled for decades in rural obscurity, writing poetry and serving in positions spanning from China’s ancient heartland of Shaanxi to the rust belt province of Heilongjiang.

— Bloomberg.com, "The Seven Men Who Will Rule China for the Next Five Years," 25 Oct. 2017
Observing all the hand-wringing over the president's emotional deficiencies are Trump supporters who come from America's heartland and who, by and large, are outwardly stoic by nature.

— gary abernathy, Alaska Dispatch News, "Trump struggles with empathy; so what?," 9 Sep. 2017
Seger's tunes are pure blue collar, heartland, everyman.

— john adamian, courant.com, "Bob Seger Coming To Mohegan," 6 Sep. 2017
Warnings of excessive heat also blanketed the 450-mile (724-kilometer) length of California’s central valley agricultural heartland and portions of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada.

— olga r. rodriguez, The Seattle Times, "California braces for severe heatwave through Labor day," 1 Sep. 2017
Of course, Franken’s constituents like him for more than a political persona that deftly bridges the gap between the heartland and coastal cosmopolitanism.

— laura miller, Slate Magazine, "Why Not Al?," 5 June 2017
The writer-director behind In Bruges turns his lens to the American heartland where an angry, grieving mother calls out the cops — via billboard — in her small Missouri town after the investigation into her daughter’s rape and murder stalls.

— gary thompson, Philly.com, "Philadelphia Film Festival announces 2018 line-up," 3 Oct. 2017
Los Angeles lacks the expanse of underground conditions of the limestone-laden heartland, so studios stack their precious reels here for a price dependent on the size and conditions of storage.

— rick montgomery, kansascity, "Where does Hollywood store its precious film reels? Underground, near KC," 20 Sep. 2017
President Trump got to the White House by telling Americans — especially white, working-class, conservative, Christians in the heartland — that liberal politicians in Washington didn't understand or care for them.

— eugene scott, Washington Post, "Trump simply doesn’t get how to talk to and about people of color," 12 Oct. 2017

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.