war zone

noun

|Updated on: 15 Jun 2018

Definition of war zone

1 : a zone in which belligerents are waging war; broadly : an area marked by extreme violence

2 : a designated area especially on the high seas within which rights of neutrals are not respected by a belligerent nation in time of war

Recent Examples of war zone from the Web

Experts say Mexico's levels of violence are similar to those found in war zones, but its forensics capacity is that of a nation at peace.

— maria verza, Fox News, "Team studies bones to identify the disappeared in Mexico," 4 June 2018
Experts say Mexico's levels of violence are similar to those found in war zones, but its forensics capacity is that of a nation at peace.

— maria verza, The Christian Science Monitor, "Forensic experts search for Mexico's missing," 4 June 2018
Experts say Mexico’s levels of violence are similar to those found in war zones, but its forensics capacity is that of a nation at peace.

— Washington Post, "Team studies bones to identify the disappeared in Mexico," 4 June 2018
Vietnam military dog handlers were understandably upset about that and urged Congress to change the rules and bring dogs back to America once their service in a war zone is over.

— meg jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "5,000 military dogs went to Vietnam; not a single one came back. Now there is a memorial to honor them.," 28 May 2018
There is grizzly photo evidence of his death, and Libya remains an active war zone to this day.

— jon wolfsthal, The New Republic, "Trump Plays Hard to Get," 24 May 2018
Your money, more than $200,000, put 10 of those recreation packages in remote areas of war zones, so our troops would have something to do on their down time.

— peter king, SI.com, "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You: Peter King Says Farewell to SI’s Monday Morning QB," 21 May 2018
Outbursts of violence such as the events of May 14th have earned Gaza a reputation as a war zone.

— The Economist, "Deadly protests on Gaza’s border with Israel," 17 May 2018
Three years later, Han, a skilled pilot stuck in a far-flung war zone, hasn't given up his dream of buying his own spaceship and reuniting with Qi'ra.

— justin chang, latimes.com, "'Solo: A Star Wars Story' never gets off the ground, but don't blame Alden Ehrenreich," 16 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'war zone.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of war zone

1914

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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