neutral zone

noun

plural neutral zones

1

American football : a space between the two lines of scrimmage equivalent to the length of the ball that may not be encroached upon by either team until the ball is put in play

2

ice hockey : the portion of a rink (see rink sense 1a) between the attacking and defensive zones

3

: a zone or area of shared ownership or administration

In fact, the Saudis and Kuwaitis aid the Iraqis … by selling Iraqi oil from the neutral zone, a favor that pumps more than $3 million a day into Iraqi coffers.

—Newsweek

Examples of neutral zone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Joel Eriksson Ek forced a neutral zone turnover and passed to Kaprizov at the blue line. —John Shipley, Twin Cities, 16 Apr. 2024

Cats have a high thermal neutral zone — the temperature at which the body doesn’t need to spend energy to heat up or cool down. —Colleen Grablick, Washington Post, 30 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 3