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zigzag

[zig-zag]
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noun
  1. a line, course, or progression characterized by sharp turns first to one side and then to the other.
  2. one of a series of such turns, as in a line or path.
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adjective
  1. proceeding or formed in a zigzag: zigzag stitches.
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adverb
  1. with frequent sharp turns from side to side; in a zigzag manner: The child ran zigzag along the beach.
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verb (used with object), zig·zagged, zig·zag·ging.
  1. to make (something) zigzag, as in form or course; move or maneuver (something) in a zigzag direction: They zigzagged their course to confuse the enemy.
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verb (used without object), zig·zagged, zig·zag·ging.
  1. to proceed in a zigzag line or course.
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Origin of zigzag

1705–15; < French; replacing earlier ziczac < French < German zickzack, gradational compound based on Zacke tack1
Related formszig·zag·ged·ness [zig-zag-id-nis] /ˈzɪgˌzæg ɪd nɪs/, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for zigzag

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Where the drawing is white, cover the page with zigzag lines.

  • The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks.

    Essays, First Series

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • And there she was, waiting for them in the wet, at the first turn of the zigzag.

  • The lines of wall, floor and ceiling were strangely off proportion, zigzag, unrelated.

    Warm

    Robert Sheckley

  • Carmena dropped it at his feet and began to zigzag down the mesa side.

    Bloom of Cactus

    Robert Ames Bennet

British Dictionary definitions for zigzag

zigzag

noun
  1. a line or course characterized by sharp turns in alternating directions
  2. one of the series of such turns
  3. something having the form of a zigzag
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adjective
  1. (usually prenominal) formed in or proceeding in a zigzag
  2. (of sewing machine stitches) produced in a zigzag by a swing needle used for joining stretch fabrics, neatening raw edges, etc
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adverb
  1. in a zigzag manner
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verb -zags, -zagging or -zagged
  1. to proceed or cause to proceed in a zigzag
  2. (tr) to form into a zigzag
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Derived Formszigzaggedness, nounzigzagger, noun

Word Origin

C18: from French, from German zickzack, from Zacke point, jagged projection; see tack 1
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