no-man's-land

noun

ˈnō-ˌmanz-ˌland 

1

a

: an area of unowned, unclaimed, or uninhabited land

b

: an unoccupied area between opposing armies

c

: an area not suitable or used for occupation or habitation

downtown was a retailing no-man's-land

2

: an anomalous, ambiguous, or indefinite area especially of operation, application, or jurisdiction

the no-man's-land between art and science

Synonyms

• barren
• desert
• desolation
• heath
• waste
• wasteland

Examples of no-man's-land in a Sentence

the city's decayed industrial quarter is a no-man's-land of abandoned factories and weedy vacant lots

Recent Examples on the Web

Today, guerrillas, drug smugglers, poachers, and jaguars rule this vast no-man's-land. —David Ewing Duncan, Outside Online, 17 May 2022

When this happens, their planet goes back and forth between being a searing, endless stretch of desert or frozen no-man's-land. —Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 29 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

no-man's-land

noun

ˈnō-ˌmanz-ˌland

1

: an unoccupied area between opposing armies

2

: an area of indefinite or uncertain character