zone

American  

[zohn] / zoʊn /

noun

• zones
  plural

1. any continuous area that differs in some respect, or is distinguished for some purpose, from adjoining areas, or within which certain distinctive circumstances exist or are established: The temperature lies outside the danger zone.

   The decisions were formulated in a zone of uncertainty.

   The temperature lies outside the danger zone.

   Synonyms:

   region

2. Geography. any of five great divisions of the earth's surface, bounded by lines parallel to the equator and named according to the prevailing temperature.

3. Biogeography. an area characterized by a particular set of organisms, whose presence is determined by environmental conditions, as an altitudinal belt on a mountain.

4. Geology. a horizon.

5. Geometry. a part of the surface of a sphere included between two parallel planes.

6. a specific district, area, etc., within which a uniform charge is made for transportation, mail delivery, or other service.

7. the total number of available railroad terminals within a given circumference around a given shipping center.

8. an area or district in a city or town under special restrictions as to the type, size, purpose, etc., of existing or proposed buildings.

9. time zone.

10. Also called postal delivery zone. (in the U.S. postal system) any of the numbered districts into which a city or metropolitan area was formerly divided for expediting the sorting and delivery of mail.

11. Sports. a particular portion of a playing area.

    The wing was trapped with the puck in his own defensive zone.

12. Informal. the zone, a state of intense concentration and focus that greatly improves a person's performance in a physical or mental activity, especially in sports.

    He has a great golf swing, but he needs to be in the zone.

13. Archaic. a girdle or belt; cincture.

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verb (used with object)

• zones,
  present (3rd person singular)
• zoned,
  past participle,  past
• zoning
  present participle

1. to mark with zones or bands.

2. to divide into zones, tracts, areas, etc., as according to existing characteristics or as distinguished for some purpose.

3. to divide (a city, town, neighborhood, etc.) into areas subject to special restrictions on any existing or proposed buildings.

4. to encircle or surround with a zone, girdle, belt, or the like.

   Synonyms:

   band, gird

verb (used without object)

• zones,
  present (3rd person singular)
• zoned,
  past participle,  past
• zoning
  present participle

1. to be formed into zones.

verb phrase

1. zone out to become inattentive or dazed.

   I must have zoned out toward the end of the lecture.

zone British  

/ zəʊn /

noun

1. a region, area, or section characterized by some distinctive feature or quality

2. a sphere of thought, disagreement, argument, etc

3. an area subject to a particular political, military, or government function, use, or jurisdiction

   a demilitarized zone

4. (often capital) geography one of the divisions of the earth's surface, esp divided into latitudinal belts according to temperature See Torrid Zone Frigid Zone Temperate Zone

5. geology a distinctive layer or region of rock, characterized by particular fossils ( zone fossils ), metamorphism, structural deformity, etc

6. ecology an area, esp a belt of land, having a particular flora and fauna determined by the prevailing environmental conditions

7. maths a portion of a sphere between two parallel planes intersecting the sphere

8. sport

   1. a mental state that enables a competitor to perform to the best of his or her ability

      Hingis is in the zone at the moment

   2. (modifier) of or relating to competitive performance that depends on the mood or state of mind of the participant

      a zone player

9. archaic a girdle or belt

10. a section on a transport route; fare stage

11. a catchment area for pupils for a specific school

12. See zone

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verb

1. to divide into zones, as for different use, jurisdiction, activities, etc

2. to designate as a zone

3. to mark with or divide into zones

4. to establish (an area) as a zone for a specific school

zone Scientific  

/ zōn /

1. Any of the five regions of the surface of the Earth that are loosely divided according to prevailing climate and latitude, including the Torrid Zone, the North and South Temperate zones, and the North and South Frigid zones.

2. Ecology An area characterized by distinct physical conditions and populated by communities of certain kinds of organisms.

3. Mathematics A portion of a sphere bounded by the intersections of two parallel planes with the sphere.

4. Anatomy An area or a region distinguished from adjacent parts by a distinctive feature or characteristic.

5. Geology A region or stratum distinguished by composition or content.

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Synonym Usage

See belt .

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interzone
  noun
• zoning
  noun
• miszone
  verb
• unzone
  verb (used with object)
• zoneless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• zones
  plural

Participles

• zoning
  present
• zoned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• zone
  simple
• zones
  simple
• have zoned
  perfect
• has zoned
  perfect
• am zoning
  progressive
• are zoning
  progressive
• is zoning
  progressive
• have been zoning
  perfect progressive
• has been zoning
  perfect progressive

Past

• zoned
  simple
• had zoned
  perfect
• was zoning
  progressive
• were zoning
  progressive
• had been zoning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will zone
  simple
• will have zoned
  perfect
• will be zoning
  progressive
• will have been zoning
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of zone

First recorded in 1490–1500; from Latin zōna, from Greek zṓnē “belt”

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Explanation

A zone is an area that has some special characteristic, like a loading zone. "The Twilight Zone" was a TV show where odd things happened. Similarly, any zone is a place that has some special feature. A loading zone is a spot where cars and trucks can unload things and people. A military zone is a place under control of the armed forces. To create a zone is called zoning: zoning breaks something into parts or sections. An election board zones an area into separate zones such as districts.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

zone zones zoned zoning

A week earlier, aerial and maritime drones hit two merchant ships in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, according to Radev.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

An intensifying El Nino broke a temperature record in a key zone of the Pacific in September, the EU's climate monitor said Monday, in another sign the weather pattern is gaining exceptional strength.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

She’s an interloper among established thespians, a woman in her late 50s who has only just begun listening to the little voice inside her, the one begging her to step outside her comfort zone.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

Jack Rudoni's penalty, Sidiki Cherif's first Sky Blues goal and late strikes from Ellis Simms and Stephen Mfuni lifted them out of the relegation zone in style.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

George Blake stepped forward, out of the gray zone of the double agent, and chose to make the communist East his home.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

“If you are in one of these zones, leave immediately,” the Orange County Fire Authority wrote on X.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Rather than having a largely consistent chemical composition, white matter contains numerous distinct lipid zones.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

In response, he underlines his past human rights work in conflict zones such as Rwanda.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

They added that offenders released early on licence faced the "toughest-ever controls", including exclusion zones and the expansion of electronic tagging.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Our flight to Dubai was fourteen hours, and we crossed another eight time zones.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram

Occasional experiences of “mindless eating” or “dissociative eating” are human; most of us have zoned out with a bag of chips at one point or another.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

Becky Davis, who told the council that she and her husband owned a gun store in Goleta long before the city incorporated in 2002, said: “You zoned me out of business, literally.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

While Bratenahl families are zoned for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, many buyers elect to send their children to nearby private institutions, including Hathaway Brown School and Hawken School.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

In 2025, Texas passed bills legalizing housing on commercially zoned land and subdivisions of starter homes, which were rendered difficult or illegal to build by municipal zoning laws, large lot requirements, or other design requirements.

From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026

Then one day in science class, I was sitting in the back row, totally zoned out.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Where and what you can build is still largely limited by state and local building and zoning regulations.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

In a city that was built on oil and remains home to over 2,000 active wells, zoning officials are considering a first: shutting down an oil production site.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

The city’s zoning administrator is now weighing whether to revoke the operator’s permit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

“It has increased in value because of zoning and because of time.”

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026

The Brooklyn zoning board was meeting that afternoon and he had no one to cover it.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

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Related Words

• area
• belt
• ground
• region
• section
• sector
• territory

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