zone

1 of 3

noun

ˈzōn 

plural zones

1

a

: any of five great divisions of the earth's surface with respect to latitude and temperature compare frigid zone, temperate zone, torrid zone

b

: a portion of the surface of a sphere included between two parallel planes

2

archaic : girdle, belt

3

a

: an encircling anatomical structure

b(1)

: a subdivision of a biogeographic region that supports a similar fauna and flora throughout its extent

(2)

: such a zone dominated by a particular life form

c

: a distinctive belt, layer, or series of layers of earth materials (such as rock)

4

: a region or area set off as distinct from surrounding or adjoining parts

5

: one of the sections of an area or territory created for a particular purpose: such as

a

: a zoned section of a city

b(1)

: any of the eight concentric bands of territory centered on a given postal shipment point designated as a distance bracket for U.S. parcel post to which mail is charged at a single rate

(2)

: a distance within which the same fare is charged by a common carrier

c

: an area of a field, court, or rink in which players defend or attack

penalized for entering the offensive zone offside

turnovers caused by an aggressive defensive zone press

[Daniel Jones] praised Slayton for his big efforts … "Yeah, I think he was doing a good job getting open, found some space in their zone, especially on third down, and made a couple of nice catches …"

—Stephen Lebitsch

d

: a stretch of roadway or a space in which certain traffic regulations are in force

6

: zone defense

7

: a temporary state of heightened concentration experienced by a person that enables peak performance

… found his zone, taking the … Championship title …

—Joey Goodman

"I managed to start off with three birdies in a row and carried that momentum through the rest of the round," he [Darren Fichardt] said. "I was in the zone today and overall, I played some solid golf. …"

—The Sunday Post

There's no underestimating how much work you can get done when you're in the zone and listening to music …

—Alan Henry

zone

2 of 3

verb

zoned; zoning; zones

transitive verb

1

: to surround with a zone : encircle

2

: to arrange in or mark off into zones

specifically : to partition (a city, borough, or township) by ordinance into sections reserved for different purposes (such as residence or business)

zoner noun

plural zoners

see also zone in, zone out

zone

3 of 3

adjective

1

: zonal sense 1

2

: of, relating to, or occurring in a zone defense

a zone press

a zone blitz

Synonyms

Noun

• belt
• corridor
• land
• neck
• part(s)
• region
• tract

Examples of zone in a Sentence

Noun

at that point we were out of the danger zone for avalanches

Verb

The town council voted to zone the area for industrial use.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

During a global expansion in the 1990s, Nissan built a second factory, making Kanda the company’s biggest domestic production zone. —River Akira Davis, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025

The evacuation zone was extended to six miles, then, later that day, to twelve miles. —Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2025

Verb

Like most wealthy areas in Los Angeles, the Palisades is zoned predominantly for single-family homes, and homeowners tend to see exclusionary zoning as the force that keeps their home values high. —Robert Petkoff Krish Seenivasan Quinton Kamara, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025

Children whose families move into the development will be zoned to attend Deerfield Beach Elementary, Deerfield Beach Middle and Deerfield Beach High School. —Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2025

Adjective

The 3,100-square-foot home – a midcentury modern design with four bedrooms and four bathrooms – will be built using insulated concrete form walls by Fox Blocks and include multi-zone Lennox high-efficiency air conditioning, a tankless hot water heater and a natural gas fireplace. —Dallas News, 17 Jan. 2021

Energy-efficient insulation and multi-zone heating and cooling systems (in the two-level home styles) help to offset the rising energy costs. —Karen A. Avitabile, Hartford Courant, 28 Jan. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin zōna "belt, girdle, imaginary band encircling the earth," borrowed from Greek zṓnē, going back to Indo-European *i̯eh₃s-neh₂, whence also, with stem variation, Russian Church Slavic pojasnĭ "belt," Sanskrit rā́snā "girdle" (*yā́snā crossed with raśanā́ "rope, bridle, girth"); derivative from a verbal base *i̯eh₃s- "encircle, girdle," whence, with various stem formatives, Old Church Slavic pojašǫ, pojasati "to gird," Lithuanian júosiu, júosti, Albanian ngjesh- "gird, encircle, compress," Greek zṓnnȳmi, aorist ézōsa "(I) gird(ed)"; from a verbal adjective in *-t- Lithuanian júosta "band, zone," Greek zōstós "belted, girded," Avestan yāsta-

Verb

derivative of zone entry 1

Adjective

from attributive use of zone entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1782, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1795, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing zone

• buffer zone
• comfort zone
• crumple zone
• demilitarized zone
• drop zone
• end zone
• enterprise zone
• erogenous zone
• exclusive economic zone
• fracture zone
• free-fire zone
• free zone
• friend zone
• frigid zone
• Goldilocks zone
• inter-zone
• life zone
• neutral zone
• no-fly zone
• no-parking zone
• red zone
• strike zone
• sub-zone
• temperate zone
• the neutral zone
• the red zone
• the strike zone
• time zone
• torrid zone
• tow-away zone
• twilight zone
• war zone
• zone defense
• zone out
• zone refining

Rhymes for zone

• blown
• clone
• cone
• crone
• drone
• flown
• groan
• grown
• hone
• joan
• known
• loan

Kids Definition

zone

1 of 2 noun

ˈzōn 

1

: any of five great divisions of the earth's surface with respect to latitude and temperature

2

: a region or area set off from surrounding or neighboring parts

3

: one of the sections of an area or territory created for a particular purpose

4

: an area on a playing field

zone

2 of 2 verb

zoned; zoning

: to divide into zones

especially : to divide (as a city) into sections for different purposes (as manufacturing)

Medical Definition

zone

noun

ˈzōn 

1

: an encircling anatomical structure

2

: a region or area set off as distinct

Legal Definition

zone

1 of 2 noun

: a specifically designated section of a larger area or territory: as

a

: a section of a municipality controlled by specific restrictions on permitted use (as for residences or agriculture)

b

: a distance within which the same fare is charged by a common carrier

c

: a stretch of roadway or a space within which certain traffic regulations are in force

zone

2 of 2 transitive verb

zoned; zoning

1

a

: to partition (as a city or town) by ordinance into sections reserved for different purposes (as residence or business)

b

: to designate the permitted use of (property) by placement in a municipal zone

land zoned for agricultural use

2

: to restrict different kinds of (use) to different areas

the power to zone land use within its borders