to move quickly or suddenly with a loud humming or buzzing sound.
cars zooming by on the freeway.
to fly an airplane suddenly and sharply upward at great speed for a short distance, as in regaining altitude, clearing an obstacle, or signaling.
Movies, Television. to bring a subject, scene, etc., into closeup or cause it to recede into a long shot using a zoom lens and while maintaining focus.
Informal. to increase or rise suddenly and sharply.
Rents would zoom without rent control laws.
to cause (an airplane) to zoom.
to fly over (an obstacle) by zooming.
to make or cause to make a continuous buzzing or humming sound
to move or cause to move with such a sound
(intr) to move very rapidly; rush
we zoomed through town
to cause (an aircraft) to climb briefly at an unusually steep angle, or (of an aircraft) to climb in this way
(intr) (of prices) to rise rapidly
the sound or act of zooming
See zoom lens
First recorded in 1885–90; imitative
First recorded in 2010–15; shortening of Zoom Video Communications
Zoom zoom! This is a word for things moving quickly, either up or in a line. When you hear zoom, think fast. Zoom is a word that can be a sound effect, a noun, or a verb. In comic books, you might see a spaceship taking off with a word bubble saying ZOOM!. Fast cars can zoom; airplanes can zoom. You could say, "In one zoom, we were in the air!" Zooming can also mean to move while making a low humming noise that sounds like zoom. Like boom, zoom is a fun word: it's hard to say Zoom zoom! and be in a bad mood.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Users can zoom from the whole brainstem seen on MRI down to individual neurons while maintaining their precise spatial relationships.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Use your computer mouse to rotate each image, or even zoom in for a closer look.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
"These findings allow our community to zoom in on factors tied to longevity and, more importantly, they point to what maybe are key elements to extend the healthspan of all."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 21, 2026
Which is exactly why Caligiuri is instructing youth players on a field so small cars zoom past without even knowing it’s there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
“If you zoom in close enough, you can’t even tell how lame this garden is.”
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
Both sat at my feet, sphinx-like, for hours during my pandemic-era Zoom calls, Hook waiting to sit on my lap, Cosmo to lie by my side.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
“My AI is in the room during Zoom calls with clients. It’s taking notes, summarizing the meeting and writing follow-up emails.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
He says he has since changed his name on Zoom from “Jeremy Levine” to “Jeremy Levine I do not consent to transcribing or recording.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
During our Zoom, with the background carefully faded behind her wavy blond bob, she promises that she doesn’t just copy and paste her subjects and settings from what sells.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
I start to explain about the plan-B Zoom bar mitzvah.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
The camera then zooms into Beddoes' face and he pushes it away.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Over the next eight seconds, as the ball zooms from side to side, four different Knicks find their way into the lane.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
The film suddenly zooms out, linearly, to two decades later.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
Although the disparity in performance looks less dramatic when one zooms out to a 25-year timespan.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 19, 2025
A red sports car zooms by on the road, puddle- spraying our fence.
From "Rules" by Cynthia Lord
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.
