Word.ws English Dictionary

zip

/zɪp/

zip noun: the high-pitched sound of a small object moving rapidly through air. Also the ellipsis of zip code.

Noun (1)

zip (plural zips)

  1. The high-pitched sound of a small object moving rapidly through air.
    Synonyms:
    whizz, zing
  2. (informal) Energy; vigor; vim.
  3. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK) A zip fastener.
    • Catrin: What sort of doctor wears a suit? My doctor wears a fleece. Can see his nasty little chest hairs poking through the zip…2010, Gary Owen, Love Steals Us from Loneliness, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →DOI, →ISBN, page 16
  4. (slang) Zero; nothing.
    • I know zip about economics.
  5. A trip on a zipline.
  6. (informal) A zip file.
  7. Synonym of convolution (“a type of mapping function”).
    Synonyms:
    convolution
  8. Synonym of zip zap zop
    Synonyms:
    zip zap zop
  9. (slang) An ounce of marijuana.

Interjection

  1. (onomatopoeic) Imitative of high-pitched sound of a small object moving rapidly through air.
    • `Zip!' Just like that, an exquisitely shaped fragment of a flashing rainbow in flight flits across in front of us[.]1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary on the Plains, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 35
    Synonyms:
    whee, whizz, zing

Verb

zip (third-person singular simple present zips, present participle zipping, simple past and past participle zipped)

  1. (transitive) To close with a zip fastener.
    Synonyms:
    zip up
  2. (figuratively, transitive) To close as if with a zip fastener.
    • Zip your lip!
  3. (transitive) To compress (one or more computer files) into a single and often smaller file, especially one in the ZIP format.
  4. (transitive) To subject to the convolution mapping function.
  5. (intransitive) To move rapidly (in a specified direction or to a specified place) with a high-pitched sound.
    • The bullet zipped through the air.
  6. (colloquial, intransitive) To move in haste (in a specified direction or to a specified place).
    • Zip down to the shops for some milk.
    • “I’ll be right there,” said Chase. She zipped into the office to pour a bowl of diet treats for Quincy.2014, Janet Cantrell, chapter 7, in Fat Cat at Large, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Prime Crime, →ISBN, page 58
  7. (transitive) To make (something) move quickly
    • Tottenham also initially struggled to create genuine goal-scoring opportunities, with Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart zipping passes around to little effect.2011 December 27, Mike Henson, “Norwich 0 - 2 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 28 Oct 2019
  8. To travel on a zipline.
  9. (UK) To offer a list of alternately male and female candidates in an attempt to address the shortage of women.

Noun (2) capitalized: ZIP

ZIP (plural ZIPs)

  1. (US) A zip code.
    • For the fifth consecutive year, the 94027 ZIP code (primarily Atherton) led the nation with a median list price of $7.75 million. Two more California ZIPs — both picturesque, coastal communities — made the top 10: 92657 (mostly Newport Coast), at $4.965 million, and 93108 (primarily Santa Barbara)...2024 November 28, Josh Ocampo, “Expensive ZIP Codes Have Something in Common”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 01 Dec 2024

Proper noun capitalized: ZIP

ZIP

  1. (US, abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of Zone Improvement Plan (see ZIP Code).
  2. (uncountable, file format) A common file format for data compression.

Noun (3) capitalized: ZIP

ZIP (countable and uncountable, plural ZIPs)

  1. (informal) A zip file.

Noun (4) capitalized: Zip

Zip (plural Zips)

  1. (US, derogatory, slang, sometimes) A Sicilian or Italian Mafioso who is relatively new to the United States.
    • The proprietor was a "Zip" — a Sicilian-born mobster — who was running a gambling operation that cut into Godfather Gotti's turf.1988, New York Magazine, volume 21, number 16, page 66

Also used as

zip is also the ellipsis of zip code.

zip meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

zip in Hindi

ज़िप, ज़िप करें

zip in Tamil

ஜிப், ஜிப் செய்ய

zip in Marathi

झिप, झिप करा, झिप करण्यासाठी
More languagesFewer languages
zip in Telugu
జిప్, జిప్ చేయడానికి, జిప్ చెయ్యడానికి
zip in Malayalam
സിപ്പ് ചെയ്യുവാനായി
zip in Kannada
ಜಿಪ್, ಜಿಪ್ ಮಾಡಲು, ಝಿಪ್ ಮಾಡಲು
zip in Punjabi
ਜ਼ਿਪ, ਜ਼ਿੱਪ, ਜ਼ਿਪ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
zip in Gujarati
ઝિપ, ઝિપ કરો, ઝીપ
zip in Odia
ଜିପ୍, ଜିପ୍ କରନ୍ତୁ, ଜିପ୍ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
zip in Nepali
जिप गर्न, जिप गर्नका लागि
zip in Vietnamese
rít, vèo

Examples of zip in a sentence

  • This machine cancels the letters that have a valid zip code.
  • Why don’t you just zip your lip? I’m tired of listening to you.
  • He added just a skosh of vinegar, to give the recipe some zip.

All 40 example sentences with zip

Synonyms of zip

All synonyms of zip

Forms of zip

Noun
pluralzips
pluralZIPs
pluralZips
Verb
third-person singular presentzips
present participlezipping
past participlezipped
pastzipped

Past tense of zip: zipped

Plural of zip: zips

Origin of zip

Onomatopoeic.

Words formed from zip

Phrases with zip

13 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with zip

39 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about zip

What does zip mean?
Zip means the high-pitched sound of a small object moving rapidly through air.
What is zip in Hindi?
Zip in Hindi is ज़िप, ज़िप करें. See Zip meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is zip?
Zip can be a noun, an interjection, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce zip?
Zip is pronounced /zɪp/.
What is the plural of zip?
The plural of zip is zips.

Words near zip in the dictionary

  1. ziotard
  2. ziotards
  3. zioturd
  4. zioturds
  5. Ziou
  6. zip
  7. zip bomb
  8. zip bombs
  9. zip code
  10. zip coded
  11. zip codes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: zip (page history and authors); ZIP (page history and authors); Zip (page history and authors); zip (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); zip (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); zip (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); zip (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); zip (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); zip (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); zip (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); zip (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); zip (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); zip (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); zip (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-zip.ogg.

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