zap

[zap]Informal.

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verb (used with object), zapped, zap·ping.

to kill or shoot.

to attack, defeat, or destroy with sudden speed and force.

to bombard with electrical current, radiation, laser beams, etc.

to strike or jolt suddenly and forcefully.

to cook in a microwave oven.

to skip over or delete (TV commercials), as by switching channels or pushing a fast-forward button on a playback device: We recorded the show on our VCR but zapped all the commercials.

to add a sudden infusion of energy, verve, color, attractiveness, or the like (often followed by up): just the thing to zap up your spring wardrobe.

verb (used without object), zapped, zap·ping.

to move quickly, forcefully, or destructively: high-voltage currents zapping overhead.

noun

force, energy, or drive; zip.

a jolt or charge, as or as if of electricity.

a forceful and sudden blow, hit, or attack.

any method of political activism, usually of a disruptive nature.

Origin of zap

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45; imitative

Related formszap·per, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for zap

kill, terminate, slaughter, exterminate

Examples from the Web for zap

Contemporary Examples of zap

“Zap This” On August 8, 2009, Tom and Ray talked to a caller whose problem was more animal than automotive.
‘Car Talk’ Hosts to Retire: Best Moments With NPR’s Laughing Mechanics
Caitlin Dickson
June 9, 2012

British Dictionary definitions for zap

zap

verb zaps, zapping or zapped

(tr) to attack, kill, or destroy, as with a sudden bombardment

(intr) to move quickly; rush

(tr) computing

to clear from the screen
to erase

(intr) television to change channels rapidly by remote control

noun

energy, vigour, or pep

interjection

an exclamation used to express sudden or swift action

Word Origin for zap

C20: of imitative origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for zap

1929 as a sound, 1942 as a verb, comic strip word (especially from "Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century"), of imitative origin. Meaning "to erase electronically" is 1982. Related: Zapped; zapping.