no man's land

Meaning

Noun

• The ground between trenches where a soldier from either side would be easily targeted.
• A space amidships used to keep blocks, ropes, etc.; a space on a ship belonging to no one in particular to care for.
• Part of a prison, hospital complex, etc. where people are not normally allowed to go.
• A place where no one can or should be.
• The area between the backcourt and the space close to the net, from which it is difficult to return the ball.
• Territory, often disputed, that cannot be inhabited because of fear of conflict, especially:
• The fibrous sheath of the flexor tendons of the hand, specifically in the zone from the distal palmar crease to the proximal interphalangeal joint.

Related

Broader meaning words

• land

Origin

• Originally from Middle English Nomanneslond. Revived with new senses in a dispatch printed in the Times newspaper by Colonel Ernest Dunlop Swinton writing as "Eyewitness".