zone

noun

\ ˈzōn

Definition of zone

(Entry 1 of 3)

1a : 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

3a : 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 on a field of play

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 performing athlete that enables peak performance players in the zone

zone

verb

zoned; zoning

Definition of zone (Entry 2 of 3)

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)

zone

adjective

Definition of zone (Entry 3 of 3)

1 : zonal sense 1

2 : of, relating to, or occurring in a zone defense a zone press a zone blitz

Other Words from zone Synonyms More Example Sentences Phrases Containing zone Learn More About zone

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 With a new fire season looming, the issue will be addressed at a community hearing next week by a Board of Supervisors ad hoc committee on evacuation zone access. — Jess Lander, San Francisco Chronicle, 20 May 2022 Military tribute, art, vendors, classic cars, music, sand sculpting, music, kids’ zone and more. — Cindy Kent, Sun Sentinel, 20 May 2022 After the trade that returned the Ravens’ wide receiver group to that oh-so-familiar offseason zone — more potential than production, more questions than answers — Eric DeCosta couldn’t resist a joke. — Jonas Shaffer, Baltimore Sun, 19 May 2022 Neely pointed to his dissatisfaction seeing players continually, and unsuccessfully, try to gain the offensive zone by beating players one-on-one. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 19 May 2022 Russian troops inflicted over $84 million worth of damage on the Chornobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine. — Katya Soldak, Forbes, 19 May 2022 Inside the fire zone, many residents echoed those concerns. — Karin Brulliard, Anchorage Daily News, 18 May 2022 Last week, a yellow zone base that Ms. Druzenko’s organization established north of Bakhmut was bombed by Russian forces. — New York Times, 18 May 2022 For starters, in the Bears’ new scheme, cornerbacks will have their eyes on the quarterback more often while asked to master the nuances of zone coverages. — Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune, 17 May 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The Birmingham City Council voted in 2020 to re-zone the former Carraway Methodist Medical Center campus, setting in motion a redevelopment that has been years in coming. — al, 10 May 2022 Laguna Niguel’s requirement, approved by the city last year, is to zone for 1,207 new housing units. — Hannah Frystaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2022 The reluctance of Connecticut towns to zone for multifamily housing was a focus of a report Giffin authored called Zoning For Equity, Vol. — Seamus Mcavoy, Hartford Courant, 23 Apr. 2022 In addition to reviewing Lakewood’s codes, the mayor said her administration has been examining how larger municipalities such as Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati zone large buildings and parking garages. — John Benson, cleveland, 24 Jan. 2022 The association calculated that O.C. should zone for about 183,000 new units. — Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2022 Elliott, who was a county commissioner for four years before he was elected to the state Senate in 2018, said there was not one request to zone unincorporated areas of Baldwin County during his time with the county. — al, 14 Oct. 2021 Users can zone in on specific municipalities as well as filter by income and eligibility requirements, availability, and number of bedrooms. — BostonGlobe.com, 15 Aug. 2021 The residents won the first round in the fight to block the quarry, after a request to annex several properties into Clay and re-zone them for mining was withdrawn after the city council did not take action on it. — Dennis Pillion | Dpillion@al.com, al, 1 June 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective And, there’s tri-zone climate controls, so passengers can control their own climate and cupholders for the second-row passengers. — Christian De Looper, BGR, 7 May 2022 High-efficiency gas furnaces and hot water heaters, energy-efficient insulation and multi-zone heating and cooling systems (in the two-level home styles) help to offset energy costs. — Karen A. Avitabile, Hartford Courant, 23 Apr. 2022 There is also a water filtration system, multi-zone central air conditioning and an LED lighting system to suit any ambience. — Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 25 Mar. 2022 Just six seconds later, after a faceoff violation, Epstein threw a cross-zone pass to Degnon, who tied the game at 4 entering halftime. — Mike Preston, baltimoresun.com, 13 Mar. 2022 The full-time missionaries were attending a multi-zone conference in Torreón, Mexico. — Fox News, 13 Nov. 2021 Another great feature for rear passengers is the tri-zone air conditioning. — James Morris, Forbes, 29 Sep. 2021 The air conditioning is tri-zone, so rear passengers have their own controls alongside both front occupants. — James Morris, Forbes, 12 June 2021 DevOps capabilities such as build and staging servers, for example, don’t need multi-zone availability. — Steve Mcdowell, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2021 See More

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

History and Etymology for zone

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

Learn More About zone

Dictionary Entries Near zone

zonda

zone

zone axis

Statistics for zone

Last Updated

22 May 2022

Cite this Entry

“Zone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zone. Accessed 28 May. 2022.

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More Definitions for zone

zone

noun

\ ˈzōn

Kids Definition of zone

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a region or area set off or characterized as different from surrounding or neighboring parts The United States is located in one of earth's temperate zones.

2 : one of the sections of an area created for or serving a particular use or purpose a town's business zone

zone

verb

zoned; zoning

Kids Definition of zone (Entry 2 of 2)

: to divide into sections for different uses or purposes This area is zoned for residential use.

zone

noun

\ ˈzōn