English

Alternative forms

• noman's land
• no-man's land

Noun

no man's land

1. (military) The ground between trenches where a soldier from either side would be easily targeted.
2. (nautical) A space amidships used to keep blocks, ropes, etc.; a space on a ship belonging to no one in particular to care for.
3. (figuratively) A place where no one can or should be.
   • 2006, March 25, Melissa Hoyos, “‘No man’s land’ has no fire protection”, Tri City Herald

     There’s a 137-square-mile chunk of Franklin County [...] referred to as "no man’s land" because it isn’t protected by any of the county’s four fire districts.

   • 1867, T W Robertson, Caste

     Now, George, if you’re going to consider this question from the point of view of poetry, you’re off to No Man’s Land, where I won’t follow you.

4. (tennis) The area between the backcourt and the space close to the net, from which it is difficult to return the ball.
5. (politics, geography) Territory, often disputed, that cannot be inhabited because of fear of conflict, especially:
   1. Tracts of uninhabited territory close to the Iron Curtain.
   2. The stretch of land between the border posts of two contiguous sovereign states, sometimes separated by great distance.
   3. Land not claimed by any recognized sovereign state; terra nullius.
6. (medic) The fanciful term for the fibrous sheath of the flexor tendons of the hand, specifically in the zone from the distal palmar crease to the proximal interphalangeal joint.

Hypernyms

• land

Translations

See also

• devil strip