an area between opposing armies, over which no control has been established.
an unowned or unclaimed tract of usually barren land.
an indefinite or ambiguous area where guidelines and authority are not clear.
a no man's land between acceptance and rejection.
(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.
land between boundaries, esp an unoccupied zone between opposing forces
an unowned or unclaimed piece of land
an ambiguous area of activity or thought
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
From a technical perspective, Meta is stuck in no man’s land.
From Barron's • Dec. 10, 2025
On crude, “we are also still in no man’s land regarding the glut,” Neil Crosby of Sparta Commodities says in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
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.
From BBC • Sep. 11, 2025
The area between the two bunkers is referred to as the "front line", "buffer zone" or "no man's land".
From BBC • Sep. 19, 2023
‘Get on, get on, we are going to get lost in no man’s land, come on.’
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
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.
