cargo cult: Meaning and Definition of

car'go cult"

Pronunciation: [key]
— (sometimes caps.)
  1. any of various native religious cults of a millenarian and messianic character located in the southwestern Pacific islands, holding that spirits will bring large cargoes of modern goods for distribution among its adherents.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.