ground zero

== English == === Etymology === From ground +‎ zero, first attested in a June 1946 a report by the United States Strategic Bombing Survey on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, on August 6 and 9, 1945, during World War II. “Zero” was used as the code name for the location of the Trinity atomic bomb test – the first detonation of a nuclear weapon – in New Mexico, USA, on July 16, 1945. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌɡɹaʊnd ˈzɪəɹəʊ/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˌɡɹaʊnd ˈzɪɚ(ˌ)oʊ/, /-ˈzi(ˌ)ɹoʊ/ Rhymes: -ɪəɹəʊ Hyphenation: ground ze‧ro === Noun === ground zero (countable and uncountable, plural ground zeroes) Originally, the point on the land or water surface below which a nuclear bomb detonates in the air; now also the point on such a surface at or above the detonation. (by extension) The location of any disaster or violent assault. (figuratively) The point at which something begins. ==== Alternative forms ==== ground-zero ==== Hypernyms ==== epicenter, epicentre hypocenter, hypocentre ==== Derived terms ==== Ground Zero ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === ground zero on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “ground zero, n.” under “ground, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2021. “ground zero, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.