war zone

noun

1

: a zone in which belligerents are waging war

broadly : an area marked by extreme violence

2

: a designated area especially on the high seas within which rights of neutrals are not respected by a belligerent nation in time of war

Examples of war zone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The cumulative effect of the bowl’s ambient violence (robbery, assault, and overdose abound) amounts to an open-air despair not unlike Fox News-style depictions of California as a wholesale war zone. — Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026

His legacy taught me that stepping into Brooklyn politics would be a war zone. — Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026

Nowadays, the concept has mutated into something more like a full RV kitchen without the RV (or outside the RV), sometimes packed into a box burly enough to survive an active war zone. — New Atlas, 25 Sep. 2026

Walking through a landscape that looked more like a war zone than the financial capital of the United States. — Thomas E. Franklin, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for war zone

• alone
• atone
• backbone
• bemoan
• bluestone
• breastbone
• brownstone
• capstone
• cheekbone
• condone
• curbstone
• cyclone