zounds
Americaninterjection
interjection
Etymology
Origin of zounds
First recorded in 1590–1600; variant of 'swounds
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.
But any potential eeriness was quickly overwhelmed by the mob of cheerful Appletonians, sipping wine, munching on cheese and -- zounds -- even joking.
From Time Magazine Archive
Leave you! zounds, sir! we scorne their companies, come they are still, doe not open to them, we have no Conies to catch.
From A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 by Bullen, A. H. (Arthur Henry)
Who that utters the word "zounds," imagines that he is speaking of such awful and inconceivable things as "God's wounds," though literally he is doing so?
From The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1, April, 1851 by Various
"But, zounds, sir, you say you are not surprised he has not come to welcome his own father?"
From The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 4, November 1, 1851 by Various
In drat, formerly 'od rot, zounds for God's wounds, 'sdeath, odsbodikins, etc., there is probably a deliberate avoidance of profanity.
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest
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.
