zone

zone [zōn]

n.

[Fr < L zona < Gr zōnē, a belt < zōnnynai, to gird < IE * yosmen- < base * yos-, to gird > OSlav pojaśǫ, to gird]

1. an encircling band, stripe, course, etc. distinct in color, texture, structure, etc. from the surrounding medium

2. any of the five great latitudinal divisions of the earth's surface, named according to the prevailing climate: see FRIGID ZONE, TEMPERATE ZONE, TORRID ZONE

3. any area or region considered as separate or distinct from others because of its particular use, crops, plant or animal life, status in time of war, geological features, etc. [a canal zone, cotton zone, demilitarized zone ]

4.

☆ a) any section or district in a city restricted by law for a particular use, as for homes, parks, businesses, etc.

b) any space along a street or road restricted in a specified way, esp. by traffic regulations [“no parking” zone ]

☆ 5.

a) any of the numbered sections into which a postal area is divided, as in the ZIP Code system

b) any of a series of ring-shaped areas concentric on a given point, each having a different parcel-post rate

☆ 6. a district within which a uniform rate is charged, as by a transportation system

7. short for TIME ZONE

8. Archaic a belt or girdle

9. Math. a part of the surface of a sphere lying between two parallel planes that intersect the figure

10. Sports any of the areas into which a football field, basketball court, etc. is divided, as for defense

vt.

zoned, zoning

1. to mark off or divide into zones; specif.,

☆ a) to divide (a city, etc.) into areas determined by specific restrictions on types of construction, as into residential and business areas

☆ b) to limit to a certain use by designating as or placing in a ZONE (sense 4a)

2. to surround with or as with a belt or zone; encircle

3. to mark with bands or stripes

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☆ in the zone or in a zone

Informal in a state that produces achievement with such an extraordinary, often unlikely, degree of success that it seems to defy purely rational explanation

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☆ zone out

Slang to lose awareness of one's immediate surroundings or one's cares or troubles, as variously from daydreaming, the taking of drugs, etc.