zone out
Stop paying attention, dissociate oneself from a situation. Also, engage in a mindless activity. For example, When Felicia starts talking about her ailments and her friends' ailments, I totally zone out. This idiom also occurs in the passive, be zoned out. It originally alluded to narcotic intoxication and then was broadened to other kinds of dissociation. For a near synonym, see tune out, def. 2. [Slang; second half of 1900s]
Words Nearby zone out
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use zone out in a sentence
“Sometimes I would even zone out completely,” she writes on her website, WaterWhisperers.
YouTube’s Sleep Whisperers Are A Sexy Way To Combat Insomnia | Lizzie Crocker | May 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAir travelers zone out or read magazines while the flight attendants point out the escape routes.
How to Survive a Disaster: Advice From a Former FBI Profiler | Abigail Pesta | July 21, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTAfter several hours of testimony explaining his calculations, some jurors seemed to zone out.
You zone out until what I'm trying to convey reaches critical mass, and then kaboom, and I'm the bad guy, and bye- bye messenger.
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