zone out

Z

zone out

Meaning

  • to fall asleep.
  • to stop paying attention to someone or something for a short time.
  • not thinking clearly due to tiredness or being drugged.
  • to lose consciousness.
  • to become unmindful of one’s cares or problems.
  • to lose concern about the surroundings to relax and unwind.

Example Sentences

  1. Whenever they start talking about cryptocurrency, I zone out.
  2. After driving for 12 hours non-stop, he zoned out shortly after arriving.
  3. I have no more strength left in me. I zone out whenever I see them fighting.
  4. She zoned out after drinking the beer; he must have spiked it.
  5. It’s been a tough week. I want to zone out while watching a nice movie tonight.
  6. Are you paying attention to the baby? It seems like you’ve zoned out.
  7. Don’t overeat; otherwise, you’ll zone out at the meeting.

Origin

The idiom was coined in the second half of the 1900s. It was first used as a slang expression for someone who is drugged or intoxicated. Later, it was also used to refer to someone who unintentionally stops paying attention to something or someone.

Moreover, there is speculation that the 1970s phrase “lost in the ozone” may have led to related terms such as “ozoned,” “zoned,” and “zoned out.”

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