zip-codehttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zip-code_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezip code, n.
Revised 2021

zip codenoun

  1. 1.
    1962–
    In the United States: a 5- or 9-digit code representing a specific geographical location which can be added to a postal address to facilitate the sorting and delivery of mail. Cf. postcode n.
    Five-digit zip codes were first used in 1963; in 1983 an optional four-digit extension to these, further specifying the location, was introduced.
    1. 1962
      The Zip code is tailored for use in electronic data processing equipment capable of handling mail addressing and processing at great speed.
      Chicago Daily Defender 29 November 2/4
    2. 1967
      An optical scanner..may eliminate the sorting machines by ‘reading’ the zip code on the letter and dispatching it accordingly.
      Boston Sunday Herald 26 March iv. 3/8
    3. 1975
      In ordering a change of address, subscribers should give four weeks' notice, providing both old and new addresses, with Zip Codes.
      New Yorker 5 May 2 (advertisement)
    4. 1980
      The Postal Board of Governors..withheld final approval of a controversial plan to expand ZIP codes to nine digits.
      Christian Science Monitor 4 December (Midwestern edition) 2/2
    5. 2000
      Punch in your zip code for local weather, or get a heads up on storms brewing elsewhere.
      Time Digital August 58/4
  2. 2.
    1966–
    U.S. An area designated by a zip code. Frequently (and in earliest use) figurative and in extended use, indicating a large area.
    1. 1966
      Sandy Koufax was hard put to keep a ball in the same Zip Code as the plate.
      News-Herald (West Lake County, Ohio) 25 March 10/2
    2. 1989
      When young influentials take over a zip code, they aren't iffy about it.
      Atlanta October 96/2
    3. 1991
      In no other major American city do residents of one neighborhood read different stories than their fellow citizens a couple of zip codes over.
      D. Rieff, Los Angeles ii. viii. 137
    4. 2007
      I like to think I'm analytical, but I'm not in the same ZIP code as Steve.
      New York Times (National edition) 28 January iii. 8/3

Originally published as part of the entry for zip, n.³

zip code, n. was revised in March 2021.

zip code, n. was last modified in June 2025.