zipper
Americannoun
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zippers
plural
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
Watch to see how the Japanese company built the world’s biggest zipper business and the challenges it faces ahead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
One of these proteins is dual leucine zipper kinase, or DLK, which acts as a sensor for neuronal damage and becomes active when metabolism is disrupted.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 27, 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
Fat staples run around my stump like a big ugly zipper, and the skin is stained dirty yellow.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
That’s roughly how many zippers Japanese brand YKK sells a year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Earlier research has shown that lead can appear in metal components of children's clothing, such as zippers, buttons and snaps, sometimes leading to recalls.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 2, 2026
But Chinese factories rely entirely on local sources for everything, from fabric to zippers and buttons.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2025
His father, Aaron Traum, helped run a family business, the David Traum Company, which sold zippers and other notions on East 26th Street.
From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
At home he watches MTV with Sonia as she doctors her jeans, cutting inches off the bottoms and inserting zippers at the newly narrowed ankles.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
