area

Less common meanings

5. 5
   penalty boxnouncountable

   In soccer, the penalty area: the marked rectangle in front of each goal where a foul by the defending team results in a penalty kick.

   The striker was brought down in the area and converted the resulting penalty himself.

   Defenders crowded the area as the corner kick floated in.

   UsageUsually the area: brought down in the area, a shot from the edge of the area.

   Similarbox

   Note

   Football talk clips penalty area down to the area, and the short form fills match reports. It is also the zone where the goalkeeper may handle the ball. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The penalty area is where the goalkeeper may handle the ball. theifab.com
6. 6
   private partsnounslangcountable

   A vague, often humorous slang euphemism for the genitals.

   He took a stray elbow to the area and spent a minute doubled over on the court.

   The comedian's whole bit was about getting hit in the area with a foam dart.

   UsageUsually the area or my area; fine for comic talk, out of place in medical or formal writing.

   Similargroin, crotch

   Note

   The word is so general that saying my area or the area leaves the listener to fill in the rest, as in Friends, "The One Where Ross Is Fine" (2003): "I got no more hands to protect my area!" It belongs with coy phrases like down there. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The Friends episode “The One Where Ross Is Fine” first aired in 2003, on October 2. en.wikipedia.org
   • The quotation is exact and occurs in that episode, spoken by Frank Buffay Jr. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   basement entrynounBritishcountable

   An open space below ground level that gives access to the basement of a house, typically separated from the sidewalk by railings.

   A flight of stone steps led down into the area in front of the Georgian terrace.

   The maid hauled the coal scuttle up from the area each morning.

   Similarareaway

   Note

   A feature of the British house that fiction keeps falling into. In Dickens's Bleak House a child is nearly pushed into the area, and in Conan Doyle, Holmes works the lower door from one. Because it led below the front door to the kitchen, it was the humble way in and out. So a Trollope character will not condescend to escape through it. Do not read it as an ordinary open space. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • The architectural area is a feature of British houses. en.wikipedia.org
   • Charles Dickens's Bleak House depicts a child nearly being pushed into an area. gutenberg.org
   • In Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans, Holmes works on a lower door from an area. gutenberg.org
   • The area provided access below the main entrance to the kitchen. gutenberg.org
   • The area was associated with servants and therefore constituted a socially humble route. countryhouseservants.mmu.ac.uk
   • A character in Anthony Trollope's Can You Forgive Her?, Burgo Fitzgerald, refuses to condescend to escape through the area. gutenberg.org