ground zero
noun
1
: the point directly above, below, or at which a nuclear explosion occurs
2
: the center or origin of rapid, intense, or violent activity or change
broadly
: center sense 2a
the party town that served as ground zero for those corporate … bashes —
Rich Eisen
Rich Eisen 3
: the very beginning : square one
Synonyms
Examples of ground zero in a Sentence
ground zero in the battle over immigration laws
a city that was once ground zero for the insurance industry
Recent Examples on the Web
Los Angeles is ground zero for TikTok content creation in the U.S., with huge numbers of full-time creators calling the city home and droves of influencers regularly flying in from around the world to film videos and attend industry events.
—Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2024
The annual festival in Indio, California, takes place over two weekends and is ground zero for celebrity gossip.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 15 Apr. 2024
California is now ground zero for Aerobotics – where the company has the biggest concentration of customers.
—Paul Tilsley, Fox News, 12 Apr. 2024
As Maricopa County became ground zero of the newly emerging election denial movement, Richer became the focus of attacks, despite having nothing to do with the administration of the election.
—David Gilbert, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024
Dupont calls Cameron ground zero for climate change.
—Nidhi Sharma, NBC News, 18 Mar. 2024
Record-level migration has brought record-breaking death to Maverick County, a border community that is ground zero in the feud between Texas and the Biden administration over migration.
—Arelis R. Hernández, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024
But now, unfortunately, not necessarily back to ground zero with it, but just got to take a step back and kind of calm it down again.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2024
The last piece of steel from the twisted remains of the twin towers was removed from ground zero only the previous year.
—Tamara Audi, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2024
The annual festival in Indio, California, takes place over two weekends and is ground zero for celebrity gossip.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 15 Apr. 2024
California is now ground zero for Aerobotics – where the company has the biggest concentration of customers.
—Paul Tilsley, Fox News, 12 Apr. 2024
As Maricopa County became ground zero of the newly emerging election denial movement, Richer became the focus of attacks, despite having nothing to do with the administration of the election.
—David Gilbert, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024
Dupont calls Cameron ground zero for climate change.
—Nidhi Sharma, NBC News, 18 Mar. 2024
Record-level migration has brought record-breaking death to Maverick County, a border community that is ground zero in the feud between Texas and the Biden administration over migration.
—Arelis R. Hernández, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024
But now, unfortunately, not necessarily back to ground zero with it, but just got to take a step back and kind of calm it down again.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2024
The last piece of steel from the twisted remains of the twin towers was removed from ground zero only the previous year.
—Tamara Audi, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ground zero.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near ground zero
Cite this Entry
“Ground zero.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ground%20zero. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
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