red zone

[ red zohn ]

noun

1. 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: Compare end zone ( def 1 ).

   The team’s top-notch defense has allowed opponents to score a touchdown on only 39 percent of trips inside the red zone.

2. 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!

3. a restricted area, sometimes specially labeled or marked with red:

   Do not enter the red zone without donning proper PPE.

4. 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of red zone¹

First recorded in 1940–45; 1970–75 red zone fordef 1

Example Sentences

The other funeral home is not in operation because it is behind the gargantuan fence and considered part of the red zone.

From The Daily Beast

But the more I read about the Miami scandal Wednesday night, the more my outrage meter began to move into the red zone.

From The Daily Beast

Guede, who is appealing his conviction, was a regular at The Red Zone.

From The Daily Beast

The red zone at the "bone pocket" carries many concretionary masses which frequently contain the fossil specimens.

From Project Gutenberg

Differs from C. hematochelis in distant gills, and more than one red zone on stem.

From Project Gutenberg

The frost-smoke is wreathing the red zone of our southern horizon.

From Project Gutenberg