red zone
Americannoun
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Football. an unofficial term for the area at either end of the field between the 20-yard line and the goal line, considered critical for defense.
The team’s top-notch defense has allowed opponents to score a touchdown on only 39 percent of trips inside the red zone.
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an area colored red on a dial or other instrument of measurement, alerting the viewer to unsafe conditions when the needle or indicator enters it.
To avoid engine damage, do not run the engine with the tachometer needle in the red zone!
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a restricted area, sometimes specially labeled or marked with red.
Do not enter the red zone without donning proper PPE.
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any range of conditions considered unsafe or likely to generate serious problems, such as for physical or financial health.
Watch that you don’t end up in the red zone with all that stress and so little sleep.
Some countries are so far into the red zone with debt that marginal changes in repayment terms make no difference.
Etymology
Origin of red zone
First recorded in 1940–45; 1970–75 red zone for def. 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The five years before and after retirement are the “red zone” when investors are more susceptible to sequence-of-return risk, says Steve Parrish, professor of practice at The American College of Financial Services.
From Barron's
They would close the mountain and the area around it in two sections: a Blue Zone extending farthest away that would be closed to tourists but open to loggers, and a Red Zone closest to the danger, open only to those scientists monitoring the volcano, law enforcement, emergency teams if needed … and Harry Truman.
From Literature
Residents knew that people had been trespassing into the Red Zone, and they were worried about vandalism.
From Literature
He wrote an exception note to the Red Zone executive order, allowing them legal passage to Spirit Lake.
From Literature
But without any high-ranking connections, they didn’t have a way to ask for an exemption to the Red Zone executive order.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
