Meanings
death zone1
plural death zones · alternative Death Zone
- climbingAn area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life.
That makes life even harder in the freezing temperatures of the death zone. High in the mountains the cold affects you quickly. You get goose bumps as your skin tries to trap warm air in the fine hairs that cover your body.
2009 03, Ross Piper, Death Zone: Can Humans Survive at 26,000 Feet, Capstone, →ISBN, page 10Synonyms: lethal zone
Death Zone2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life.
Origin
Coined by Swiss physician and alpinist Edouard Wyss-Dunant in 1953 as lethal zone.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish kuolemanvyöhyke
- kuolemanvyöhyke(climbing) an area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life
French zone de la mort
- zone de la mort(climbing) an area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life
German Todeszone
- Todeszone(climbing) an area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life
Japanese デスゾーン
- デスゾーン (desu zōn)(climbing) an area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life
Korean 죽음의 구역
- 죽음의 구역 (jugeum-ui guyeok)(climbing) an area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life
Polish strefa śmierci
- strefa śmierci(climbing) an area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life
Russian зо́на сме́рти
- зо́на сме́рти (zóna smérti)(climbing) an area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life
Spanish zona de la muerte
- zona de la muerte(climbing) an area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life
Ukrainian зо́на сме́рті
- зо́на сме́рті (zóna smérti)(climbing) an area of land at sufficiently high altitudes in which there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life
Cite this entry
death zone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/death%20zone
“death zone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/death%20zone. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “death zone,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/death%20zone.
Source: death zone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.