ground zero
noun
1
: the point directly above, below, or at which an explosion and especially a nuclear explosion occurs
2
: the center or origin of rapid, intense, or violent activity or change
Mingo Junction … sits at ground zero of the longest steelworker strike in American history.—
Michael Janofsky
Michael Janofsky
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
We'll have to go back to ground zero and start over.
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
While Hangzhou heavyweights like Alibaba and DeepSeek are hard at work on cutting-edge AI, a leafy, hipster-meets-hacker suburb called Liangzhu has become ground zero for AI's quirkier side.
—Elaine Yu, CNBC, 2 Jan. 2026
Among the crowd in Tampa was Silas Pearson, vice president of the largest Turning Point chapter in the country, at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, ground zero for evangelical higher education.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Hands are ground zero for daily wear.
—Adam Hurly, Robb Report, 29 Dec. 2025
But for her show, the host and producer Zoe Kurland took apparent inspiration from the idiosyncratic residents of the Davis Mountains Resort—also known as ground zero for the Republic of Texas movement, which formed under the belief that the United States had illegally annexed Texas in 1845.
—Benjamin Cannon, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ground zero
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Elaine Yu, CNBC, 2 Jan. 2026
Among the crowd in Tampa was Silas Pearson, vice president of the largest Turning Point chapter in the country, at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, ground zero for evangelical higher education.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Hands are ground zero for daily wear.
—Adam Hurly, Robb Report, 29 Dec. 2025
But for her show, the host and producer Zoe Kurland took apparent inspiration from the idiosyncratic residents of the Davis Mountains Resort—also known as ground zero for the Republic of Texas movement, which formed under the belief that the United States had illegally annexed Texas in 1845.
—Benjamin Cannon, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ground zero
Cite this Entry
“Ground zero.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ground%20zero. Accessed 8 Jan. 2026.
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