no man's land

noun

1. an unoccupied area between the front lines of opposing armies (Freq. 1)

• Hypernyms: ↑area, ↑country

2. land that is unowned and uninhabited (and usually undesirable)

• Hypernyms: ↑land

3. the ambiguous region between two categories or states or conditions (usually containing some features of both)

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but there is still a twilight zone, the tantalizing occurrences that are probably noise but might possibly be a signal

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in the twilight zone between humor and vulgarity

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in that no man's land between negotiation and aggression

• Syn: ↑twilight zone

• Hypernyms: ↑ambiguity, ↑equivocalness

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1. an area between opposing armies, over which no control has been established.

2. an unowned or unclaimed tract of usually barren land.

3. an indefinite or ambiguous area where guidelines and authority are not clear: a no man's land between acceptance and rejection.

4. (in tennis, handball, etc.) the area of a court in which a player is at a tactical disadvantage, as the area of a tennis court about midway between the net and the base line.

[1300-50; ME]

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no man’s land variant UK US

Main entry: no-man's-land

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no man's land,

1. the land between opposing lines of trenches in a war.

2. a tract of land to which no one has a recognized or established claim.

3. Figurative. a scope of activity over which no authority exists: »

an ambiguous no man's land between right and wrong.

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n. disputed ground, as between the front lines or trenches of two opposing armies

enemy soldiers facing you across no man's land | figurative an unmapped no man's land between the traditional command economy and the market

■ land or area that is unowned, uninhabited, or undesirable

Origin:

Middle English: originally the name of a plot of ground lying outside the north wall of the city of London, the site of a place of execution