zap
verb /zæp/
/zæp/
(informal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they zap | /zæp/ /zæp/ |
| he / she / it zaps | /zæps/ /zæps/ |
| past simple zapped | /zæpt/ /zæpt/ |
| past participle zapped | /zæpt/ /zæpt/ |
| -ing form zapping | /ˈzæpɪŋ/ /ˈzæpɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] to destroy, kill or hit somebody/something suddenly and with force
- zap somebody/something The monster got zapped by a flying saucer (= in a computer game).
- It's vital to zap stress fast.
- zap somebody/something with something He jumped like a man who'd been zapped with 1 000 volts.
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. to do something very fast
- I'm zapping through (= reading very fast) some modern novels at the moment.
- [intransitive, transitive] zap (something) to use the remote control to change television channels quicklyTopics TV, radio and newsc2
- [intransitive, transitive] zap (somebody/something) + adv./prep. to move, or make somebody/something move, very fast in the direction mentioned synonym zip
- The racing cars zapped past us.
Word Origin1920s (originally US): imitative.