buffer zone
noun1
Government, Military, Politics, War A neutral area that is located between hostile forces, and is designed to prevent hostilities.
2
US A transitional area between areas of different land use.
- And it had been a close-run thing for many of the nearest - perhaps too close. Councillor Renee Spector, a senior member of Birmingham City Council planning committee, told the local press that the accident might force "a rethink" about the way it considered future applications. "There is a case for a buffer zone, but the problem is that land is at such a premium it is difficult to insist on a large distance between houses and railway lines," she said.2026 March 18, Greg Morse, “1996 crash driving freight reforms”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 51:
3
Figuratively A conceptual space between two things.
- Does she wear glasses with fashionable frames, has she had her lids lifted, does she streak or tint? All of these things are possible: we’ve both reached that borderline age, that buffer zone in which it can still be believed such tricks will work if you avoid bright sunlight.1988, Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye:
4
Synonym of bubble zone (“a perimeter around an abortion facility”).