Meanings
zero point1
plural zero points
- countableuncountablegovernmentThe location of the center of a burst of a nuclear weapon at the instant of detonation. The zero point may be in the air, or on or beneath the surface of land or water, depending upon the type of burst, and it is thus to be distinguished from ground zero.
- countableobsoleteuncountablegovernmentGround zero.
zero point2
- SingaporeuncountableA children's game involving jumping over a chain of linked elastic bands.
Synonyms: yeh yeh
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA children's game involving jumping over a chain of linked elastic bands.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe point on a scale from which positive or negative numerical quantities can be measured
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
zero point · noun
From early restandardization, possibly under influence of established US military terms such as zero hour, of the prior term point zero, which was coined during the Trinity Project, as point + zero, with zero being the code name for the Trinity test location. The original sense was that of ground zero and referred to only latitude and longitude, without regard to altitude, until the latter term's coinage in 1946.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
zero point. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zero%20point
“zero point.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zero%20point. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “zero point,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zero%20point.
Source: zero point on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.