zap

[zap] /zæp/
verb (used with object), zapped, zapping.
1.
to kill or shoot.
2.
to attack, defeat, or destroy with sudden speed and force.
3.
to bombard with electrical current, radiation, laser beams, etc.
4.
to strike or jolt suddenly and forcefully.
5.
to cook in a microwave oven.
6.
to skip over or delete (TV commercials), as by switching channels or pushing a fast-forward button on a playback device:
We recorded the show on our VCR but zapped all the commercials.
7.
to add a sudden infusion of energy, verve, color, attractiveness, or the like (often followed by up):
just the thing to zap up your spring wardrobe.
verb (used without object), zapped, zapping.
8.
to move quickly, forcefully, or destructively:
high-voltage currents zapping overhead.
noun
9.
force, energy, or drive; zip.
10.
a jolt or charge, as or as if of electricity.
11.
a forceful and sudden blow, hit, or attack.
12.
any method of political activism, usually of a disruptive nature.
Origin
1940-45, Americanism; imitative
Related forms
zapper, noun
British Dictionary definitions for zap

zap

/zæp/
verb zaps, zapping, zapped
1.
(transitive) to attack, kill, or destroy, as with a sudden bombardment
2.
(intransitive) to move quickly; rush
3.
(transitive) (computing)
  1. to clear from the screen
  2. to erase
4.
(intransitive) (television) to change channels rapidly by remote control
noun
5.
energy, vigour, or pep
interjection
6.
an exclamation used to express sudden or swift action
Word Origin
C20: of imitative origin
Word Origin and History for zap

1929 as a sound, 1942 as a verb, comic strip word (especially from "Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century"), of imitative origin. Meaning "to erase electronically" is 1982. Related: Zapped; zapping.

Slang definitions & phrases for zap

zap

interjection

An exclamation imitating sudden impact; wham: It's a gradual thing. It ain't zap, you're healed (1929+)

noun

Vitality; force; pizzazz, zip (1968+)

verb
  1. To kill or disable; strike violently; clobber, waste: Sitcom Zaps Boardroom Bozos (1942+)
  2. To administer electroshock therapy (1980s+ Medical)
  3. To cook or heat in a microwave oven; nuke: Zap one minute, open the microwave door, stir and break up the meat pieces with a fork (1990s+)

[fr the echoic word used to convey the sound of a ray gun in the comic strip ''Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century'']


zap in Technology


1. A language for expressing program transformations.
["A System for Assisting Program Transformation", M.S. Feather, ACM TOPLAS 4(1):1-20, Jan 1982].
2. Zero and Add Packed.
(2001-03-25)

jargon
1. To modify, usually to correct; especially used when the action is performed with a debugger or binary patching tool. Also implies surgical precision. "Zap the debug level to 6 and run it again."
In the IBM mainframe world, binary patches are applied to programs or to the operating system with a program called "superzap", whose file name is "IMASPZAP" (possibly contrived from I M A SuPerZAP).
See also Zero and Add Packed.
2. To fry a chip with static electricity. "Uh oh - I think that lightning strike may have zapped the disk controller."
(1998-07-08)

Related Abbreviations for zap

ZAP

acknowledge please (shortwave transmission)