Definition of "zap"

zap

/zæp/

noun
plural zaps
1. (colloquial) A sound made by a sudden release of electricity or some similar energy.
2. (colloquial) An electric shock.
3. A raucous public demonstration designed to embarrass a public figure or celebrity as a form of political activism.
  Quotations
  Black AIDS activists were caught in the middle of a nearly yearlong series of zaps.
  1998, Raymond A. Smith, Encyclopedia of AIDS
  When a zap at Brooklyn's Board of Education opened no dialogue on discrimination suffered by gay teachers, GAA targeted the BOE offices on April 13.
  2011, Michael Schiavi, Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo, page 84
4. (slang) The act of heating something in a microwave oven.
  Quotations
  The guest immediately asked the bartender to give his drink a zap in the microwave oven behind him […]
  2015, Thomas E. Johnson, West Meets East in Kazakhstan
verb
third-person singular simple present zaps, present participle zapping, simple past and past participle zapped
1. (intransitive) To make a zap sound.
2. To use a remote control to repeatedly change channels on a television.
3. To strike (something or someone) with electricity or energy, as by shooting.
4. (US, military, slang, transitive) To kill; to eliminate.
  Quotations
  Says a U. S. officer: "We zapped the enemy, now we intend to stick around. […]
  1966, U.S. News & World Report, volume 61, page 32
5. (slang, transitive) To damage (especially electronics) with electrostatic discharge.
6. (slang, transitive) To heat (something) in a microwave oven.
7. (slang, transitive) To delete or discard (electronic media).
8. (slang, transitive) To further energize or charge (magnetic material).
9. (Singapore, informal, transitive) To photocopy.
  Quotations
  Got to go and zap this document now.
  2004 October 19, Kevin & Lily Shepherdson, “Digital Life”, in The Straits Times, Singapore, page 16
10. To participate in a zap (protest) against.
  Quotations
  We are periodically assailed with appeals to help block this or censor that or zap the other media presentation which one or other of us thinks (often with justice) is injurious to gays or others.
  1976 April 3, 'A. Nolder Gay', “The View From The Closet”, in Gay Community News, page 16
interjection
1. Representing the sound or action of a zap.
  Quotations
  Zap is a comic-book hero - Zap! Powie! Kazoom!; why have you retired, Zap, when we need you so much?
  1975, Rennie Ellis, editors, Australian Graffiti, page

Definition of "zap"

zap

noun

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verb

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interjection

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