zapping

/ˈzæpɪŋ/

zapping is the present participle and gerund of zap.

Meaning of zap

zap (third-person singular simple present zaps, present participle zapping, simple past and past participle zapped)

(intransitive) To make a zap sound.
To use a remote control to repeatedly fast-forward or change channels on a television.

Synonyms:

channel surf, channel hop
To strike (something or someone) with electricity or energy, as by shooting.
- They spent the whole movie zapping bad guys into oblivion.
(US, slang, transitive) To kill; to eliminate.
- 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
(slang, transitive) To do away with something.
(slang, transitive) To enliven.

zapping (plural zappings)

The act or result of being zapped.
- Then the inquiry heard the sound of the multiple Taser zappings, amplified for viewing by Braidwood, witnesses and spectators, including Dziekanski's mother.2009 March 28, Linda Diebel, “The case of the deadly stapler”, in Toronto Star, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2009

plural	zappings

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

What does zapping mean?: Zapping means the act or result of being zapped.
What is zapping the present participle and gerund of?: Zapping is the present participle and gerund of zap.
What part of speech is zapping?: Zapping is a noun.
How do you pronounce zapping?: Zapping is pronounced /ˈzæpɪŋ/.
What is the plural of zapping?: The plural of zapping is zappings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: zapping (page history and authors); zap (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “zapping.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/zapping. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.