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zap. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
zap, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
zap in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
zap you have here. The definition of the word
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zap, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Translingual
Symbol
zap
- (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Zapotec.
English
Etymology
1920s, American English, of imitative origin.
Pronunciation
Noun
zap (plural zaps)
- (colloquial) A sound made by a sudden release of electricity or some similar energy.
- (colloquial) An electric shock.
You might feel a little zap touching a metal doorknob when the air is dry.
- A raucous public demonstration designed to embarrass a public figure or celebrity as a form of political activism.
1998, Raymond A. Smith, Encyclopedia of AIDS:Black AIDS activists were caught in the middle of a nearly yearlong series of zaps.
2011, Michael Schiavi, Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo, page 84:When a zap at Brooklyn's Board of Education opened no dialogue on discrimination suffered by gay teachers, GAA targeted the BOE offices on April 13.
- (slang) The act of heating something in a microwave oven.
2015, Thomas E. Johnson, West Meets East in Kazakhstan:The guest immediately asked the bartender to give his drink a zap in the microwave oven behind him […]
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
zap (third-person singular simple present zaps, present participle zapping, simple past and past participle zapped)
- (intransitive) To make a zap sound.
- To use a remote control to repeatedly change channels on a television.
- Synonyms: channel surf, channel hop
- To strike (something or someone) with electricity or energy, as by shooting.
They spent the whole movie zapping bad guys into oblivion.
- (US, military, slang, transitive) To kill; to eliminate.
1966, U.S. News & World Report, volume 61, page 32:Says a U. S. officer: "We zapped the enemy, now we intend to stick around. […]
- (slang, transitive) To damage (especially electronics) with electrostatic discharge.
I think they zapped the processor.
- (slang, transitive) To heat (something) in a microwave oven.
If it's not warm in the middle, zap it some more.
- (slang, transitive) To delete or discard (electronic media).
They zapped a lot of files before realizing they had not backed up lately.
- (slang, transitive) To further energize or charge (magnetic material).
They zapped my motor's magnets.
- (Singapore, informal, transitive) To photocopy.
2004 October 19, Kevin & Lily Shepherdson, “Digital Life”, in The Straits Times, Singapore, page 16:Got to go and zap this document now.
- To participate in a zap (protest) against.
1976 April 3, 'A. Nolder Gay', “The View From The Closet”, in Gay Community News, page 16:We are periodically assailed with appeals to help block this or censor that or zap the other media presentation which one or other of us thinks (often with justice) is injurious to gays or others.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
change channels repeatedly
damage with electrostatic discharge
Interjection
zap!
- Representing the sound or action of a zap.
Then the computer went zap and I lost all my work.
1975, Rennie Ellis, editors, Australian Graffiti, page :Zap is a comic-book hero - Zap! Powie! Kazoom!; why have you retired, Zap, when we need you so much?
Translations
representing the sound of a zap
Dutch
Pronunciation
Verb
zap
- inflection of zappen:
- first-person singular present indicative
- (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
- imperative
Portuguese
Etymology
Clipping of WhatsApp.
Pronunciation
Noun
zap m (usually uncountable, plural zaps)
- (Brazil, informal) WhatsApp
2022, “Chama No Zap BB”, in Valzito (music), Junho 2k22, performed by Fernando Pisadinha ft. DJ Ivis and Nuzio Medeiros, MBC Music:
2024 September 7, Antonio Prata, “Venho, por meio desta”, in Folha de S.Paulo:No grupo de zap "Compras réveillon 2017" surgem discussões acaloradas sobre o melhor acordo de cessar fogo entre Israel e Palestina.- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Romanian
Interjection
zap
- Alternative form of zapa
Yola
Etymology
From Middle English soppe, from Old English sopa.
Pronunciation
Noun
zap
- sup
References
- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 80