zap

Etymology

1920s, American English, of imitative origin.

noun

1. (colloquial) A sound made by a sudden release of electricity or some similar energy.
2. (colloquial) An electric shock.
   You might feel a little zap touching a metal doorknob when the air is dry.
3. A raucous public demonstration designed to embarrass a public figure or celebrity as a form of political activism.
   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.
   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

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.
   They spent the whole movie zapping bad guys into oblivion.
4. (US, military, 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
5. (slang, transitive) To damage (especially electronics) with electrostatic discharge.
   I think they zapped the processor.
6. (slang, transitive) To heat (something) in a microwave oven.
   If it's not warm in the middle; zap it some more.
7. (slang, transitive) To delete or discard (electronic media).
   They zapped a lot of files before realizing they had not backed up lately.
8. (slang, transitive) To further energize or charge (magnetic material).
   They zapped my motor's magnets.
9. (Singapore, informal, transitive) To photocopy.
   Got to go and zap this document now. 19 October 2004, Kevin & Lily Shepherdson, “Digital Life”, in The Straits Times, Singapore, page 16

intj

1. Representing the sound or action of a zap.
   Then the computer went zap and I lost all my work.
   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 [1]