combat zone

noun

Military. an area in a theater of operations where combat forces operate, extending typically from the front line to the communications zone.
Slang. an area in some cities, usually in an older midtown section, where pornography stores, striptease bars, etc., flourish, or are tolerated because of being concentrated in one district.

Origin of combat zone

First recorded in 1935–40

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

The pilot explained that he usually wears his “to mount NVGs for night flying,” though occasionally “we will wear them during daytime in a combat zone to protect against debris should the cockpit take a direct hit.”
This new Air Force helmet won’t be such a pain in the neck for pilots | David Roza/Task & Purpose | December 1, 2021 | Popular-Science
For groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS, the whole world is a combat zone.
Was the US Capitol attack “domestic terrorism”? | Jennifer Williams | January 7, 2021 | Vox
In combat zones around the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan, Lt.
How a retired Army Ranger helped Ron Rivera separate the interesting from the important | Sam Fortier | January 7, 2021 | Washington Post
One of the fathers, Ostap, claimed that his son, after spending over 90 days in the combat zone, had a legal right to take leave.
Ukraine’s Home Front Grows War Weary | Anna Nemtsova | October 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
I first met Michael in early May 2011, while I was in Washington on leave from the combat zone in Afghanistan.
Thank You For Your Service: Remembering Michael Hastings | Daniel L. Davis | July 4, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

I recognize that it's easier to criticize a battle plan from outside the combat zone.
The White House and the IRS: A Carteresque Fiasco | Robert Shrum | May 28, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Bales may have harbored hopes of getting out of the combat zone, perhaps by becoming a military recruiter, as Browne has said.
Robert Bales, the Army Staff Sgt. Accused of Killing 16 Afghans | Matthew DeLuca | March 18, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
It is a disorienting shift, to put it mildly, to return home from a combat zone where people were actively trying to kill you.
Army Vet: Government and the Country Need to Support Vets in War and in Peace | Lee W. Berry IV | March 1, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
The situation developed rapidly, probably because we had only six days before our scheduled departure into the combat zone.
Shock Absorber | E.G. von Wald

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