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zombie
[ zom-bee ]
/ ËzÉm bi /
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noun
adjective
of or relating to something that was declared concluded, finished, or dead, but surprisingly continues to linger, or comes back in a different version: zombie legislation that was defeated last session;resuscitating zombie corporations through debt restructuring;a zombie ex who texts you out of the blue looking for a hookup.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known asâŠ
Rarely zom·bi .
Origin of zombie
First recorded in 1810â20; from Louisiana French, Haitian Creole zonbi, from a Bantu language, e.g., Kongo nzambi âgod,â zumbi âfetish,â or Kimbundu nzambi âgodâ
OTHER WORDS FROM zombie
zom·bi·ism, nounWords nearby zombie
Zollner illusion, Zollverein, Zoloft, zolpidem, Zomba, zombie, zombie bank, zombify, zonal, zonal geranium, zonal soil
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use zombie in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for zombie
zombie
zombi
/ (ËzÉmbÉȘ) /
noun plural -bies or -bis
a person who is or appears to be lifeless, apathetic, or totally lacking in independent judgment; automaton
a supernatural spirit that reanimates a dead body
a corpse brought to life in this manner
the snake god of voodoo cults in the West Indies, esp Haiti, and in scattered areas of the southern US
the python god revered in parts of West Africa
a piece of computer code that instructs an infected computer to send a virus on to other computer systems
Derived forms of zombie
zombiism, nounWord Origin for zombie
from Kongo zumbi good-luck fetish
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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