zone
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An area or region distinguished from adjacent parts by a distinctive feature or characteristic.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
zohnIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈzoʊn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An area or region distinguished from adjacent parts by a distinctive feature or characteristic
Any given region or area of the world.
A given area distinguished on the basis of a particular characteristic, use, restriction, etc.
by extension
A restricted category or virtual place.
A band or area of growth encircling anything.
A band or stripe extending around a body.
verb
Separate or apportion into sections
transitive
To divide into or assign to sections or areas.
To assign to a restricted category.
transitive
To define the property use classification of (an area).
intransitiveslang
To enter a daydream state temporarily, for instance as a result of boredom, fatigue, or intoxication; to doze off.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An area or region distinguished from adjacent parts by a distinctive feature or characteristic
Used this way, zone is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- geographical zone , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use zone
- “Files in the Internet zone are blocked by default, as a security measure.”noun
- “A zone of evergreens on a mountain; the zone of animal or vegetable life in the ocean around an island or a continent.”noun
- “That pitch was low and away, just outside of the zone.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Artillery or mortar fire delivered in a constant direction at several quadrant elevations.
The part of the theater of war not included in the theater of operations.
A neutral zone between two rival powers that is created in order to diminish the danger of conflict.
A zone consisting of a strip of land across the Isthmus of Panama that contains the Panama Canal.
Any of the geographical zones loosely divided according to prevailing climate and latitude.
The temperature range (between 28 and 30 degrees Centigrade) at which the naked human body is able to maintain a heat balance without shivering or sweating.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: area
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.