zap
/zæp/ noun, verb, interjection, proper noun
Forms zaps zapping zapped zap!
- noun (colloquial) A sound made by a sudden release of electricity or some similar energy.
- noun (colloquial) An electric shock. “You might feel a little zap touching a metal doorknob when the air is dry.”
- noun A raucous public demonstration designed to embarrass a public figure or celebrity as a form of political activism.
- noun (slang) The act of heating something in a microwave oven.
- verb (intransitive) To make a zap sound.
- verb To use a remote control to repeatedly fast-forward or change channels on a television.
- verb To strike (something or someone) with electricity or energy, as by shooting. “They spent the whole movie zapping bad guys into oblivion.”
- verb (US, military, slang, transitive) To kill; to eliminate.
- verb (slang, transitive) To do away with something.
- verb (slang, transitive) To enliven.
- verb (slang, transitive) To move or transport (something) in a brief time frame.
- verb (slang, transitive) To damage (especially electronics) with electrostatic discharge. “I think they zapped the processor.”
- interjection Representing the sound or action of a zap. “Then the computer went zap and I lost all my work.”
- proper noun A city and town in North Dakota.
Synonyms
channel surf channel hop vaporize nuke atomize atomise microwave micro-cook
Etymology
1920s, American English, of imitative origin.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “zap”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details