1 (belong to) be the property of:the vehicle did not belong to him
be due to:most of the credit belongs to Paul
(of a contest or period of time) be dominated by:the race belonged completely to Fogarty
2 (belong to) be a member of (a particular group or organization):he belonged to the local cricket club
[usually with adverbial of place] (of a person) have an affinity for a specified place or situation:she is a stranger, and doesn’t belong hereyou and me, we belong together (as noun belonging)we feel a real sense of belonging
have the right personal or social qualities to be a member of a particular group:young people are generally very anxious to belong
3 [with adverbial of place] (of a thing) be rightly placed in a specified position:he put the rifle back in the locker where it belongedsuch statements do not belong in a modern student textbook
be rightly assigned to a specified category:these compounds belong to a class of chemical mediators called kairomones
