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

Laviolette has long been a proponent of the 1-3-1 neutral zone trap, designed to force team to dump pucks in or force turnovers by cutting off offensive-zone entries. — Eric Stephens, New York Times, 10 June 2026

This year’s robot picked up 6-inch foam balls called fuel from a neutral zone area in the field and scored them into a hopper-style goal in the team zone that was about 5 feet high. — Amy Stark Shireman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 May 2026

At even strength in the first period, the Sharks had all kinds of trouble with the Predators’ pressure in the defensive and neutral zones. — Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 5 Apr. 2026

Off a neutral zone draw outside the Minnesota line, Morgan Geekie collected the puck in the O-zone and dished it back to Hampus Lindholm, who fired it toward the net. — Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 28 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for neutral zone

• acetone
• anglophone
• baritone
• bourguignon
• buspirone
• chaperon
• chaperone
• cobblestone
• collarbone
• cornerstone
• cortisone
• dictaphone