ゼロ距きょ離り

also: れいきょり

Meanings

point-blank range; very close range; close quarters

Describes a distance so short that the target is extremely close, often used in military, shooting, or figurative contexts for being very near.

狙そ撃げき手しゅはゼロ距きょ離りから標ひょう的てきを撃うった。
The sniper shot the target from point-blank range.
彼かれらはゼロ距きょ離りで話はなし合あった。
They talked at very close quarters.

See all 4 example sentences ›

Kanji

零zero, spill, overflow
距long-distance, spur, fetlock
離detach, separation, disjoin

Related words

至し近きん距きょ離り
至近距離 also means 'very close range' but is more general and less emphatic than ゼロ距離, which implies virtually no distance.

Word family

零ぜろ距きょ離り射しゃ撃げき
point-blank shot; close-range shot

Written forms

ゼロ距きょ離り
Most common spelling; uses the katakana ゼロ for 'zero'.
零距離
- ゼロきょり
- れいきょり
  Kanji spelling using 零; reading is れいきょり. Less common than ゼロ距離.
０距離
- ゼロきょり
  Uses the numeral ０; rare and mostly seen in informal or stylized contexts.
- れいきょり
れいきょり

Etymology

Compound of ゼロ (zero) and 距離 (distance). The kanji form 零距離 uses the native Japanese reading れい for zero. The term is a modern coinage, likely influenced by English 'zero distance'.