below the belt

Prepositional phrase

1. Of a punch, landing illegally, below the opponent's waist.
2. (broadly, idiomatic) Unfair; dirty; not according to the generally accepted rules.
   • Commenting on his bachelorhood in a debate on marital ethics was a bit below the belt, don't you think?
   • Mr. Nixon attacked Mr. [Hubert] Humphrey with gusto, sounding to an unusual degree like Mr. Humphrey attacking Mr. Nixon. He said he knew his opponents were in trouble because “you know politicians are behind when they start to name call, when they start to panic, to hit below the belt.”1968 October 18, R[aymond] W[alter] Apple Jr., “[Richard] Nixon Again Backs a Bombing Pause if It Costs No Lives”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see below, the, belt.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:below the belt.