zingerhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zinger_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezinger, n.
Revised 2021

zingernoun

slang (originally U.S.).
  1. 1.
    1906–
    Sport (originally Baseball). A ball thrown or hit hard and fast.
    1. 1906
      Then Sling slammed a zinger across the outside corner.
      Inlander 25 April 10/1
    2. 1975
      Carlton hit a zinger, but Lopes somehow managed to glove the ball and turn it into a doubleplay.
      Courier-Post (Camden, New Jersey) 14 August 53/6
    3. 1996
      Then came another zinger on the inside corner... The ump called it a ball.
      J. Davidson in W. Humber & J. St James, All I thought about was Baseball 74
    4. 2017
      Every time Laura hits a zinger down the line and I can't get to it, I think, That's my doubles partner, that's awesome.
      Advocate-Messenger (Danville, Kentucky) 13 May b9
    1. 2.a.
      1954–
      A question or remark designed to surprise or disorientate; an unexpected turn of events, a plot twist.
      1. 1954
        The payoff is this zinger: some of the stud bosses are so desperate and the going is so tough that they're eying the scribe sheets to pick up on a possible slave.
        New York Amsterdam News 20 March 17/2
      2. 1973
        I would drone along..asking tired questions... Then I would throw in the zinger and watch what happened.
        R. Thomas, If you can't be Good (1974) vii. 51
      3. 1976
        There's a zinger toward the end, in which the nominal hit man gets hit, but it doesn't really compensate for the tedium the reader's gone through.
        Publishers Weekly 2 February 91/1
      4. 2018
        Someone might throw you a zinger or make demands of you or surprise you in some way.
        Postmedia Breaking News (Nexis) 20 November
    2. 2.b.
      1970–
      A pointed or amusing remark, esp. one intended to humiliate or criticize; a quick-witted remark or observation, a wisecrack, esp. an effective one.
      1. 1970
        Ann-Margret is giving him a hard time on the home front, too, tossing out little zingers about his advancing age.
        Time 12 October 7
      2. 1979
        One more zinger about my height, and I shall be compelled to thrash you mercilessly.
        Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 31 March 76 (caption)
      3. 2012
        For someone who didn't have a mean bone in his body, he tended to land some zingers.
        K. Cole, Poison Princess ii. 16
      4. 2018
        Packed with zingers, it's also a showcase for Moore's talent as a one-liner man.
        i (Nexis) 20 November 43
  2. 3.
    1955–
    Something which is a remarkable, exciting, or excellent example of its kind. Frequently in a zinger of a ——.
    1. 1955
      I don't know why it was such a zinger, unless it was that it was very big and very cheap.
      M. Allingham, Beckoning Lady vi. 99
    2. 1968
      I think every actress needs one zinger of a part early in her career.
      Times 30 May 10
    3. 1973
      A zinger of a novel.
      New York Times Book Review 4 November 79 (caption)
    4. 1980
      My private collection was becoming what an American friend..described as a ‘zinger’.
      R. Adams, Girl in Swing v. 63
    5. 2019
      A joyous female-centric update of a genre that's not really had a zinger of a mainstream film since Superbad.
      Scotsman (Nexis) 23 May

zinger, n. was revised in March 2021.

zinger, n. was last modified in July 2023.