demilitarized zone
Americannoun
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an area in which it is forbidden to station military forces or maintain military installations.
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Informal. any area, place, or circumstance in which conflicts or hostilities are held in abeyance. DMZ
Etymology
Origin of demilitarized zone
First recorded in 1930–35
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A North Korean soldier escaped across the Korean demilitarized zone on Tuesday night, despite intensified surveillance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
Why did you set the story in the demilitarized zone?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026
Now, they see Israeli forces routinely moving around their own village, parts of which jut into the demilitarized zone.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2024
Vance zipped in afterward with a completely made-up plan about a "demilitarized zone" and a "guarantee of neutrality."
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2024
It moved to the very edge of the Permian side, as if it was a demilitarized zone, and then stopped and came back the other way.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
