ground zero
17
6.2
- noun
- /ˈɡraʊnd ˈzɪəroʊ/
:
zona cero
- The memorial at ground zero serves as a tribute to those lost during the tragic events of September 11.
- ground zero mosque
- workers at ground zero
- mile from ground zero
You know stuff doesn't start at Ground Zero, right?
- You know stuff doesn't start at Ground Zero, right?
- Like it's time for you to to find that new flame and start at Ground Zero.
- But with without oil, we're yeah, we're back to Ground Zero, You know, the caveman.
- And for us people, we usually take it at Ground Zero, wherever that is.
- But eventually when they fell, you get back to, to, to, to, to Ground Zero.
Examples
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I just wanted to see what it is like at ground zero.
Blog text (26) -
About a quarter mile from ground zero.
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Mr. Mayor, you mentioned ground zero.
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We're right at ground zero.
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Rescue efforts continue at ground zero.
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The point is, ground zero is hallowed ground; it has become a place that all Americans own.
Blog text (20) -
Immediately after the attack, rescue workers from around the world swarmed ground zero to try to find survivors and dig through the rubble.
Academic text (2007) -
Los Angeles has the ignominious distinction of being the homeless capital of the nation, and skid row is ground zero of the crisis.
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The site of the attack was referred to as "ground zero," a phrase used to describe the center of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Academic text (2004) -
What a blessing it was that Pope Francis came to Tacloban to the ground zero of that tragedy, and delivered a very powerful message that "the gravest effects of the climate crisis" "are visited upon the poorest people."
Synonyms
10
7.5
A situation where trouble or violence can start suddenly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'ground' (earth surface) and 'zero' (origin point) do suggest a location that is the starting or reference point on the ground, so a learner might infer a literal 'point on the ground.' However, the conventional use to mean the site of a major disaster or attack (originally a nuclear blast point and later extended metaphorically) is a specialized, culture-specific extension that many B1 learners would not fully predict without prior exposure or background knowledge.
Etymology
Ground zero was later used by news people to name the site of a disaster, because the same idea—the single point most damaged—fit other events. So ground zero now often means 'the place where a major disaster happened' or 'the starting point of its effects'.