dead zone

noun dead zones

1. An area with no life. Its first act upon its arrival — or, depending on the degree of intelligent agency you ascribed to it, the first side-effect of its arrival — was the neutralisation of the Foundation. In the space of a night, an international staff of tens of thousands disappeared into oblivion, or became amnesiac,
2. An area of the ocean where oxygen levels are too low to support life, especially as a result of pollution. Planet Earth Research this year discovered that humans have created at least 50 ‘dead zones’ (zones where there is no oxygen) in the sea through pollution, and have extinguished other species at 1,000 times the natural rate in evolution.
3. A region where mobile phones do not operate because there is no base station or repeater nearby. When you are in a dead zone, most of your call drops or your phone doesn't work at all.

   Similar: notspot

4. The part of the field where a player is on their opponent's side of the field but kicking a field goal would probably be unsuccessful and punting the ball would not dramatically change field position.
5. historical An area near a fortification that is relatively sheltered from defending fire because direct fire from other parts of the walls cannot be directed around a curved wall.
6. A region within the player's viewpoint that is less sensitive to small movements, aiding accurate firing of weapons etc.