Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

zap

/zæp/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.96 in modern English

Syllables: zap
IPA: /zæp/

14

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

1

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A sound made by a sudden release of electricity or some similar energy.

Colloquial

noun

An electric shock.

Colloquial

noun

A raucous public demonstration designed to embarrass a public figure or celebrity as a form of political activism.

noun

The act of heating something in a microwave oven.

Slang

verb

To make a zap sound.

Intransitive verb

verb

To use a remote control to repeatedly fast-forward or change channels on a television.

verb

To strike (something or someone) with electricity or energy, as by shooting.

verb

To kill; to eliminate.

American usage; Slang; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"You might feel a little zap touching a metal doorknob when the air is dry."
"Black AIDS activists were caught in the middle of a nearly yearlong series of zaps."
"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."
"The guest immediately asked the bartender to give his drink a zap in the microwave oven behind him […]"
"They spent the whole movie zapping bad guys into oblivion."
"Says a U. S. officer: "We zapped the enemy, now we intend to stick around. […]"

Etymology

1920s, American English, of imitative origin.

Usage

Inflected Forms

zaps (plural) zaps (present, singular) zapping (participle, present) zapped (participle, past) zapped (past) zap! (canonical)

Phrases

brain zap zap 'em up zap over zap up zip zap zop Zap flap

Frequently Paired Words

Zap flap

Synonyms

channel surf channel hop microwave micro-cook nuke atomize atomise vaporize

Rhymes With

app map cap gap crap trap tap snap wrap lap rap slap

Questions

How do you pronounce zap?: The recorded pronunciation is /zæp/.
What does zap mean?: A sound made by a sudden release of electricity or some similar energy.
Where does zap come from?: 1920s, American English, of imitative origin.

How to pronounce zap

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “zap”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/zæp/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “zap”.
Repeat and practice — Say “zap” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.