Origin uncertain. Perhaps an arbitrary formation, or perhaps <z- (in zeron.) + ‑ip (in nipn.3: compare sense III.9 at that entry).Compare zilchn.
Meaning & use
colloquial (originally U.S.).
noun
1900–
Nothing at all, zero; (in negative constructions) anything at all; the least thing. Cf. zilchn.
1900
Zip, n., a zero in marks.
Dialect Notesvol. 2 70
1972
Before this, neither one of us had known zip about stocks and bonds.
D. E. Westlake, Cops & Robbers (1973) viii. 111
1980
But do away with all the frontal stuff and close-ups, you don't have zip.
R. S. Hopkins, Riviera xxvii. 196
2001
Under the plan, the 400 richest multimillionaires will receive tax breaks worth an average of $1 million a year. The poorest working families will get zip.
Nation (New York) 4 June 3/1
2018
Jurgen Klopp has won nothing with Liverpool. Nought, nil, nada, zero, zilch, zip.
A five minute stretch when Detroit scored a total of zip points while Philadelphia was scoffing up 14 in a row.
Ludington (Michigan) Daily News 6 January 5/5
1999
More than six of 10 pastoralists in the drought-stricken outback lands..are not going to make it in the long term... ‘It could rain three inches of rain and the price of wool could double and it would make zip impact because so many are so heavily in debt.’
Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 8 June (Late edition) 7
2013
There is no evidence, zero, zip evidence that modifying plants by molecular techniques has special dangers associated with it.
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.
Vowels
iːfleece
ihappy
ɪkit
ɛdress
atrap, bath
ɑːstart, palm, bath
ɒlot
ɔːthought, force
ʌstrut
ʊfoot
uːgoose
əletter
əːnurse
ɪənear
ɛːsquare
ʊəcure
eɪface
ʌɪpride
aʊmouth
əʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ãgratin
ɒ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.
Vowels
ifleece, happy
ɪkit
ɛdress
ætrap, bath
ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
ɑrstart
ɔcloth, thought
ɔrnorth, force
ʊfoot
ugoose
əstrut, comma
ərnurse, letter
ɪ(ə)rnear
ɛ(ə)rsquare
ʊ(ə)rcure
eɪface
aɪpride
aʊmouth
oʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ɑ̃gratin
æ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values