zipper
Americannoun
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Also called slide fastener. a device used for fastening clothing, valises, etc., consisting of two toothed tracks or spiral metal or plastic coils, each bordering one of two edges to be joined, and a piece that either interlocks or separates them when pulled.
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a person or thing that zips.
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a rubber and fabric boot or overshoe fastened up the leg by a zipper.
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a large illuminated display of news bulletins or advertisements that rapidly and continously flash by on an upper part of a building.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of zipper
Explanation
A zipper is a sliding fastener. You'll get cold and wet if you don't zip the zipper on your coat during a blizzard. Zippers are usually made of metal or plastic teeth that fit together as you slide a tab along them. It's common to have a zipper on your coat, jeans, or dress instead of snaps or buttons. Suitcases and sleeping bags are usually closed with zippers too. The zipper was invented in 1917, but it was initially called a "zip." At the time, a zipper was a particular type of boot that zipped closed.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dressing head-to-toe in ethical clothing can feel as impossible as a stuck zipper, especially now that legacy manufacturers like Eddie Bauer and Champion have sold their brand names to a shoddier conglomerate.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026
One possible answer is the use of so-called "zipper materials."
From Science Daily • May 9, 2026
Among the new nonnegotiables: fleece vests instead of jackets and elastic waistbands instead of “hard pants,” i.e., anything with a zipper.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025
Williams rode shotgun, his bug hooked onto the zipper of his backpack.
From Salon • Jan. 7, 2025
By the time Jackie and Bertha finished that zipper, there wasn’t a single weed left in that yard and my heart ached so bad I wanted to cry.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
