kill zone

Noun

kill zone (plural kill zones)

1. The area of engagement where an attack on the enemy is focused and which has the highest percentage of fatalities.
   • You either kept distance or an obstacle between yourself and the engagement area, a buffer zone against the enemy's reaction from the kill zone.2004, Charles W. Sasser, Craig Roberts, Crosshairs on the Kill Zone, →ISBN, page 90
   • We had to get out of the kill zone if at all possible. We were also told if a truck in front of us gets hit and will not move, not to stop, but to go around it and get out of the kill zone.2007, Gerald L. Hunt, The Kill Zone: Day to Day Convoys in Iraq, →ISBN, page 43
   1. Such an area defined by drone warfare.
      • Near-synonyms: no man's land, no-man's land
2. A position where someone is facing a deadly attack.
   • He was parked on the zigzag road just to the east of the kindergarten street, facing the kill zone, the three-man assault team in position, but the plan was now going to shit. He had picked the zigzag road as the perfect kill zone based on Pike's following Azzam and triggering the assault as the...2011, Brad Taylor, One Rough Man, →ISBN
   • In police work, then, officers are in the kill zone when they are in positions where they could be shot, stabbed, run over, or otherwise mortally injured by citizens.2012, David Klinger, Into the Kill Zone: A Cop's Eye View of Deadly Force, →ISBN
3. The area of the chest and abdomen where a bullet is most likely to kill its target.
   • On your first two tries you got maybe one shot in the kill zone, the rest were too low.1989, Michael P. Murphy, Old Soldiers, →ISBN, page 228
   • Each staccato flare of light was glaring and vehement and expanded into the corners of the room. Bishop tracked the first shadow of movement, a dark specter, aimed for the kill zone, center mass, and fired.2005, Matthew Vierling, Last Refuge, →ISBN, page 421