beltway

noun

1. Also called belt highway. a highway around the perimeter of an urban area.
2. the Beltway, the Washington, D.C., area within the highway that encircles it.

noun

1. the usual US name for a ring road
2. (usually with capital)
   1. the people and institutions located in the area bounded by the Washington Beltway, taken to be politically and socially out of touch with the rest of America and much given to political intrigue
   2. (as modifier)Beltway Cassandras

n.

term in U.S. for a ring highway around an urban area, especially Interstate 495 around Washington, D.C., the Capital Beltway, completed 1964. Figurative for “Washington, D.C., and its culture” for better or worse, since c.1978.