no man's land

noun

1. an area between opposing armies, over which no control has been established.

2. an unowned or unclaimed tract of usually barren land.

3. an indefinite or ambiguous area where guidelines and authority are not clear.

   a no man's land between acceptance and rejection.

4. (in tennis, handball, etc.) the area of a court in which a player is at a tactical disadvantage, as the area of a tennis court about midway between the net and the base line.

no-man's-land

noun

1. land between boundaries, esp an unoccupied zone between opposing forces

2. an unowned or unclaimed piece of land

3. an ambiguous area of activity or thought

Word History and Origins

Origin of no man's land¹

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

Example Sentences

Jones, now in charge of Japan, says his sacking by England coincided with hitting a "no man's land" between a set of experienced older players who had begun to fade, and a younger generation who were yet to develop enough to take their place.

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"Potential targets can be engaged before they reach the IDF perimeter. It is a bit like no man's land that does not belong to anyone – and Israel tends to take that territory from the opponent's chunk not its own."

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Tikhanovskaya yesterday posted pictures online appearing to show 69-year-old Mr Statkevich sitting in no man's land at the border.

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Mikola Statkevich, a veteran dissident, refused to cross into Lithuania and Belarus's exiled opposition posted pictures of him sitting in no man's land at the border.

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After those two days in no man's land - between India and Bangladesh - she says she was taken to what appeared to be an old prison on the Bangladeshi side.

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Related Words

• back country 
• desert 
• forest 
• jungle 
• outback 
• wasteland