no-fly zone

American

[noh-flahy] / ˈnoʊˈflaɪ /

noun

an area over which no military flights are allowed.

no-fly zone British

noun

an area in which aeroplanes may not fly, esp during wartime
a taboo subject

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of no-fly zone

First recorded in 1991

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.

In response, the FAA again activated an emergency no-fly zone.

From Salon • Jan. 12, 2026

Police said the areas was "completely closed to the public", and that "a no-fly zone over Crans Montana has been imposed".

From Barron's • Jan. 1, 2026

This included enforcing a no-fly zone, which helped prevent another massacre of the Kurds by Saddam and seeded the creation of the autonomous Kurdistan region, a success story.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

There will be a no-fly zone around the ground.

From BBC • Nov. 5, 2025

Their boundary of appropriateness is a no-fly zone miles wide.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023