as in center
a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest
a city that was once ground zero for the insurance industry
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Recent Examples of ground zero
This area was ground zero for funneling OxyContin and its generic equivalent, oxycodone, to virtually every state east of the Mississippi.
—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 2 May 2026
Marwa Yazbek is from Dihariya, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, which was ground zero for Israeli strikes when the war broke out.
—Nbc News, NBC news, 24 Apr. 2026
The country has become ground zero for the global Islamist terror threat.
—Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 12 Apr. 2026
In the original state of nature, ground zero of social contract theory, a group of people would come together to decide on the principles that would permit them to live together in an orderly community.
—George G. Szpiro, Big Think, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ground zero
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 2 May 2026
Marwa Yazbek is from Dihariya, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, which was ground zero for Israeli strikes when the war broke out.
—Nbc News, NBC news, 24 Apr. 2026
The country has become ground zero for the global Islamist terror threat.
—Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 12 Apr. 2026
In the original state of nature, ground zero of social contract theory, a group of people would come together to decide on the principles that would permit them to live together in an orderly community.
—George G. Szpiro, Big Think, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ground zero
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ground zero
Noun
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Vegas played much of the night without center William Karlsson, who was being checked out on the bench for an apparent upper-body injury.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2026
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Philadelphia declared a heat health emergency for Thursday and Friday, activating cooling centers, home visits by field teams, outreach to people experiencing homelessness and other services.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
12 June 2026
Noun
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Its proximity to the fascinating capital of Kunming is also appealing for travelers who don’t intend to go to Tibet and never plan on leaving the city.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
12 June 2026
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The missiles had been launched toward the Azraq area in the Zarqa governorate, which sits around 65 miles east of the country’s capital, Amman, the Jordanian armed forces said in a statement.—
Sarah Dean,
NBC news,
12 June 2026
Noun
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Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!—
Wendy Naugle,
USA Today,
13 June 2026
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Other major Filipino American hubs in the Bay Area include Union City and Vallejo.—
Ryan Macasero,
Mercury News,
13 June 2026
Noun
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Shop windows and the local museum display crafts from this wood-carving mecca.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
8 June 2026
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The new hotel is also aiming to become a culinary mecca in Mallorca.—
Nicole Hoey,
Robb Report,
6 June 2026
Noun
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Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, says the current outbreak shows what consequences of that narrower focus have been and why rarer Ebola species cannot be ignored.—
Paul Adepoju,
Scientific American,
14 June 2026
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As firms scale, governance, incentives, and legacy practices shift focus from customer value and human flourishing.—
Steve Denning,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
Noun
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Just seconds later, local residents recorded on their cellphones the initial stages of the Eaton fire, burning at the base of the tower, known as M16T1.—
Tony Saavedra,
Daily News,
10 June 2026
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Demolition crews were busy on Tuesday tearing down the cafe at its base, and there are serious questions about whether the pier itself can be saved.—
John Ramos,
CBS News,
10 June 2026
Noun
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Astronomers have discovered a distant quasar — or active nucleus of a galaxy — that's powered by a feeding supermassive black hole blasting out winds at record-breaking speeds of 30% the speed of light, around 201 million miles (323 million kilometers) per hour.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
9 June 2026
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This reaction results in a helium nucleus and releases a neutron and radiation.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 June 2026
Noun
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Victoria’s Secret said it’s committed to safe, respectful working conditions across its global supply chain, with women’s safety, dignity, and economic empowerment at the core.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Footwear News,
11 June 2026
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The system uses heat pipes to move heat away from the reactor core and into a supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion system that generates electricity.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ground zero.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ground%20zero. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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