The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
neutral ground
NOUN:
Louisiana & Southern Mississippi1. See median strip. 2. See parking (sense 3).
REGIONAL NOTE:
The strip of grass dividing the opposing lanes of an avenue or a highway is known by a variety of terms in the United States. The most common term, used almost everywhere except westward from the Rocky Mountains, is median strip or median. In upstate New York it is also called a mall, and in Pennsylvania, a medial strip. In the Midwest the strip is also known as a meridian or a boulevard. In Louisiana and southern Mississippi the term used is neutral ground—“as if the highway were a battle zone,” observes Craig M. Carver in American Regional Dialects. See Note at parking.
