zaphttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zap_v%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezap, v.
First published 1986; not fully revised

zapverb

slang (originally U.S.).
  1. I.
    transitive.
      1. I.1.a.
        1942–
        To kill, esp. with a gun; to deal a sudden blow to.
        1. 1942
          Kill; murder,..wipe out, work off, zap.
          L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark, American Thesaurus of Slang §118/3
        2. 1965
          Zap..means to clobber.
          Time 10 December 34
        3. 1966
          Zap, v., to slap... I got zapped when I tried that.
          Current Slang (University South Dakota) Fall 6
        4. 1969
          In Vietnam a man knocked out was said to be zapped.
          I. J. C. Brown, Rhapsody of Words 143
        5. 1970
          A council workman on-duty during the week zapped any rat foolish enough to wiggle a whisker within a hundred yards of the place.
          Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 14 December 3/3
        6. 1971
          He wants to prove a Hanoi man can zapp a Saigon man.
          Sunday Times 28 March 9/1
        7. 1971
          This year the system has zapped the counter-culture member in the sneakiest way of all, by robbing him of a decent way of making a living after graduation.
          Radio Times 18 November 15/4
        8. 1977
          Proto..fires a beam of electrons at the pellet, zapping it with a jolt equal to 8 trillion watts.
          Time 6 June 55/2
        9. 1979
          You can't run a darkroom without plug-in power, so you'd better make it electrically safe or you might get zapped!
          Modern Photography October 64
        10. 1981
          God is not going to zap women for coming forth.
          Observer 2 August 10
        11. 1982
          Unbureaucratically, any bugger who shoots, you zap.
          N. Freeling, Wolfnight 161
        12. 1984
          Teenager Vickie Parker was zapped to death by 640 volts of electricity when she wandered onto the tracks of an elevated train and accidentally touched the ‘live’ third rail.
          Weekly World News 25 December 29/1
        13. 1985
          In a New York restaurant, a young man celebrating with friends was zapped in the face by a man with an aerosol spray can.
          New York Review of Books 9 May 23/3 (advertisement)
      2. I.1.b.
        1976–
        To put an end to, do away with.
        1. 1976
          We can zap a headache almost immediately.
          Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 22 April 21/4
        2. 1982
          Atari seeks to zap X-rated video games.
          Sunday Sun-Times (Chicago) 17 October 62 (heading)
    1. I.2.
      1961–
      To fail (someone) in a test, course, etc.; to punish (see also quot. 1969).
      1. 1961
        The cadet who is zapped is the recipient of a large number of demerits or other cadet punishments. The term was probably taken from a favorite cadet newspaper comic strip, ‘B.C.’, where zapp is used as the sound of any blow.
        American Speech vol. 36 149
      2. 1969
        Zap, v., to ‘put down’; to put someone in his place.
        Current Slang (University South Dakota) Winter 12
      3. 1976
        A graduate student whose ‘scholarly potential’ is not overwhelmingly lauded ‘is going to get zapped’.
        National Observer (U.S.) 17 January 8/5
    2. I.3.
      1967–
      To overwhelm emotionally.
      1. 1967
        I'll be zapped with love, blow the mind of straight people.
        Punch 26 July 123/1
      2. 1970
        If the music doesn't zap you..you can contemplate..movies on the wall.
        New Yorker 22 July 4/3
      3. 1971
        Our politicians turn to the architects, presuming them to be the theatrical stage managers of the city to zap the masses with compelling masques and follies.
        Daily Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia) 30 May 47/1
      4. 1974
        If The Book is published in time, and the right people in Washington read it, it's going to really zap them.
        A. Lurie, War between Tates (1977) vi. 134
      5. 1977
        Bring you own sounds!!, and get zapped.
        It May 31/3 (advertisement)
      6. 1983
        A well-known evangelist invited the undergraduates of Oxford to allow themselves to be ‘zapped by the Holy Spirit’.
        Theology January 15
    3. I.4.
      1967–
      To send, put, or hit in a forceful way.
      1. 1967
        For quick acceleration..the nickel-cadmium batteries would cut in briefly, could zap the car from a standstill to 50 m.p.h. in 20 seconds.
        Time 22 December 56
      2. 1972
        I nosed the car out of town and on to 118, where I zapped it into high.
        D. Delman, Week to Kill 139
      3. 1974
        Computers zap farmers through space-age door.
        Farm & Country 9 April 11 (heading)
      4. 1976
        Won't they be surprised when Ms. Klutz limberly zaps the ball over the net.
        National Observer (U.S.) 29 May 12/4
    4. I.5.
      1972–
      To demonstrate against or at.
      1. 1972
        Homosexuals..‘zap’ (confront) politicians until they express themselves..on equal housing..for homosexuals.
        Saturday Review (U.S.) 12 February 24/1
      2. 1980
        Columbia and Warner Bros. were ‘zapped’ last week; this Tuesday it's the turn of 20th Century Fox. An itinerant army of 1,000 striking actors..will parade at the old studio's grimy portals.
        Observer 3 August 8/5
    5. I.6.
      1982–
      Computing. To erase or change (an item in a program).
      1. 1982
        When the program is erased, the PROM is said to be ‘zapped’.
        Times 14 January (Information Technol. Supplement) p. v/5
      2. 1983
        On DRS 304, RB 2C you will find the byte to be 20H. Zap this to 18H.
        80 Microcomputing January 29/3
      3. 1983
        Since I keep a hard copy listing of the assembly of MODEM7, the easiest thing to do was to zap the offending byte.
        Your Computer September 86/1
  2. II.
    intransitive.
    1. II.7.
      1968–
      To move quickly and with vigour.
      1. 1968
        Nothing is quite as sad as watching Lynn watching Lightfoot zap off out of a parking lot.
        Maclean's September 55
      2. 1972
        The well-known routine of zapping from studio to studio.
        Observer 27 February 33/5
      3. 1977
        We're zapping over Kogarah Bay with 45 miles an hour on the clock.
        Modern Boating (Australia) January 30/3
      4. 1981
        When those self-satisfied pop singers and dizzy girls from Hollywood zap in and out they are not drinking themselves silly at our expense.
        Times 22 July 12/4
      5. 1985
        Several smaller craft zap past.
        Times 6 April 11/1
    2. II.8.
      1983–
      To use a fast-forward facility on a video recorder to go quickly through the advertisements in a recorded television programme; to switch through other channels for the duration of the advertisements when watching programmes off-air.
      1. 1983
        implied in:
        The practice is known in the US as ‘zapping’. Apparently people who have remote control devices are substantially more likely..to switch over to another channel when ads come on. [at zapping n.]
        Times 27 October 8/3
      2. 1984
        People are beginning to record the best commercial programmes on their VCRs so they can zap through the commercials.
        Broadcast 7 December 27/2
      3. 1985
        People with the technology use it to avoid commercial breaks, either by zapping through other channels or by fast-forwarding material recorded off-air.
        Marxism Today May 34/1

Additional sense (1993)

  1. 1979–
    To make more powerful, exciting, etc.; to enliven, revitalize; to spice or pep up.
    1. 1979
      A silky textured duck liver pâté was zapped with an overdose of brandy.
      New York Times 18 May c14/4
    2. 1982
      The account executive—ever the master of vague terms and confusing directions—tells the creatives they need to..‘zap it up’..‘beat some drums’..‘put some vitamins in it’.
      Ad Day 4 March 3
    3. 1986
      How to find shoes, hats, accessories that zap last year's clothes to look like new.
      Family Circle May 5/2
    4. 1991
      Saab brought turbocharging to the mass market long before it became faddish to zap up the performance of shopping buggies by ramming air down their throats.
      Independent 9 November 43/5

Additional sense (2003)

  1. 1975–
    transitive. colloquial (originally U.S.). To cook (food) in a microwave oven.
    1. 1975
      Plum sauce first... Then zap your chicken in the microwave. Chicken cooked in a microwave oven becomes tender and extremely juicy.
      Sunset September 106
    2. 1978
      The corned beef was zapped to death in a microwave oven that rendered it of all its fat and turned it to stone.
      Washington Post 5 March (Magazine) 39
    3. 1986
      Fresh corn barely needs to be cooked, and I have found that the microwave does a wonderful job of preserving the flavor if you just zap it in its husk, turning it once in the process.
      San Diego Union-Tribune (Nexis) 30 July 39
    4. 1998
      The packaging features receptor inlays that help brown and crisp the tortillas when they are zapped in the microwave.
      Grocer 1 August 8/2

zap, v. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zap, v. was last modified in June 2024.