ground zero

noun

1. the point on the surface of the earth or water directly below, directly above, or at which an atomic or hydrogen bomb explodes.
2. (sometimes initial capital letters) the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City, destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
3. Informal. the very beginning or most elementary level:

   Some of the students are starting from ground zero.

ground zero

noun

1. a point on the surface of land or water at or directly above or below the centre of a nuclear explosion
2. a scene of great devastation
3. sometimes capitals the name given to the devastated site of the collapsed World Trade Center towers in New York after September 11 2001

Word History and Origins

Origin of ground zero¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

Principle, whose 1984 anthem Your Love is ground zero for Chicago house, also appears in a spoken-word interlude on the album, describing how the scene “went all to hell when the money came into it”.

From BBC

For Tasmanian Aboriginal people, though, this hillside on the outskirts of Hobart is "ground zero for invasion".

From BBC

“This is basically ground zero. You’re looking at pristine forests. They have to somehow use that area and cut down trees, divide mountains and all that just to build human settlement.”

From Los Angeles Times

Keiko Ogura had been 8 years old on Aug. 6, 1945, living with her family only a mile and a half from ground zero, in a house shielded behind a small hill.

From Los Angeles Times

If California is a front line of climate change, the San Joaquin Valley may well be ground zero.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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• goal
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