an area from which military presence or function has been removed
The area could be turned into a demilitarized zone.
▶ USAGE The abbreviation for demilitarized zone is DMZ
demilitarized zone in American English
noun
1.
an area in which it is forbidden to station military forces or maintain military installations
2. informal
any area, place, or circumstance in which conflicts or hostilities are held in abeyance
Abbreviation: DMZ
Word origin
[1930–35]This word is first recorded in the period 1930–35. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: acoustic phonetics, boondoggle, kickback, logical positivism, old school tie