ground zero

noun

1. the point on the surface of the earth or water directly below, directly above, or at which an atomic or hydrogen bomb explodes.

2. (sometimes initial capital letters),  the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City, destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

3. Informal.,  the very beginning or most elementary level.

   Some of the students are starting from ground zero.

ground zero

noun

1. a point on the surface of land or water at or directly above or below the centre of a nuclear explosion

2. a scene of great devastation

3. (sometimes capitals) the name given to the devastated site of the collapsed World Trade Center towers in New York after September 11 2001

Word History and Origins

Origin of ground zero¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

MEMPHIS—For Elon Musk, ground zero of the artificial intelligence arms race is a 114-acre tract of grass and swamp on the state line of Tennessee and Mississippi.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Greene and Greene would produce over a hundred “California Bungalows,” including their larger “Ultimate Bungalows,” and the Craftsman fever that followed would make Pasadena ground zero for California Craftsman, and the Craftsman movement nationwide.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Since June, Southern California has been ground zero of thousands of immigration arrests as well as legal battles over whether the raids violate the U.S.

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The Greater Los Angeles area is “ground zero for the effects of the border crisis,” his lawyers told the Supreme Court this month.

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The city became the climate crisis’ ground zero.

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Related Words

• ambition 
• aspiration 
• intention 
• purpose 
• target