social distancing

noun

medical

: the practice of maintaining a greater than usual physical distance (such as six feet or more) from other people or of avoiding direct contact with people or objects in public places during the outbreak of a contagious disease in order to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection : physical distancing

San Francisco issued recommendations for social distancing on Friday, advising residents to stay home as much as possible and avoid congregating in large groups.

—Taryn Luna and Melody Gutierrez

Under a new "social distancing" strategy, handshaking could be discouraged, with other, less tactile forms of greeting taking its place.

—Rosa Silverman

The term social distancing may be foreign to some, but the concept is one often practiced during the flu season, said Dora Anne Mills, the state's former top health official and currently chief health improvement officer for MaineHealth.

—Gillian Graham

Examples of social distancing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Republican and Democratic states all instituted shelter-in-place and social distancing rules during the peak of cases, Benjamin said. —Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 26 Nov. 2024

Amid Covid-19, WhatsApp chatbots in South Africa, Rwanda, and Senegal provided timely information about testing and social distancing. —Jennifer Lotito, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024

Researchers found social distancing behaviors increased as people tried to avoid the protests. —The Arizona Republic, 24 June 2024

The last presidential election in 2020 took four days for officials to make a final call, mostly due to the prominence of mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

2003, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

social distancing

noun

: the practice of maintaining a greater than usual physical distance (as six feet) from other people or of avoiding direct contact with people or objects in public places during the outbreak of a contagious disease