dead zone

American  

noun

1. Ecology. an area in a body of water, especially an ocean, having oxygen levels that are not adequate to support life.

   shellfish threatened by an annual dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

2. dead spot.

3. a period or place where there is little activity or excitement.

   A dead zone for home sales is November and December.

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dead zone British  

noun

1. an area of water that cannot support marine life, being virtually devoid of oxygen due to the presence of nitrates that stimulate algae growth

2. an area where a mobile phone does not receive a signal

3. any area where something does not exist or prosper

   a dead zone for cinemas

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Etymology

Origin of dead zone

First recorded in 1875–80, for an earlier sense

Example Sentences

Once a reliably lucrative box office market, China has become a dead zone for many Hollywood films popular in the rest of the world.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Surfing and then skateboarding. It’s Americana distilled. But the South Bay is also an extremely complicated, lonely suburban place. It’s very cut off from the rest of the city. It’s surrounded by oil. You have the Port of L.A., which is one of the biggest ports in the world. It’s kind of a cultural dead zone, but it also bred what a lot of people around the world know as American culture. Brian knew how to distill that.”

From Los Angeles Times

“The trees are all gone. The place is a dead zone.”

From Literature

She can predict someone’s destiny by squeezing their hand, the party trick Christopher Walken did in “The Dead Zone.”

From Los Angeles Times

“It’s such a weird dead zone,” he says, gesturing to the space next to his kitchen.

From Los Angeles Times