zone defense

American  

noun

Sports.

1. a method of defense, especially in basketball and football, in which each member of the defensive team guards a specified portion of the playing area.

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Etymology

Origin of zone defense

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

San Pedro likes to play zone defense and rely on its three-point shooting.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026

But the zone defense was critical to helping slow the pace for a team trying to survive its fifth game in seven days.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 19, 2026

Those underdogs tend to follow a simple recipe—they have one or two elite skills, like 3-point shooting or an airtight zone defense, that can tilt a seeming mismatch in their favor.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

They didn’t make a basket again until 3:01 into the second half — a stretch of 9 minutes, 53 seconds — as Oregon befuddled the Wildcats with a zone defense for much of that stretch.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 15, 2024

St. Peter’s started with a two-one-two zone defense.

From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers