zindabadhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zindabad_int%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezindabad, int. & n.
First published 2007

zindabadinterjection & noun

  1. interjection
    1. 1930–
      —— zindabad!: used, esp. in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, to affirm enduring support for the specified person or thing; long live —— !
      1. 1930
        A procession of loyalists consisting of Sikhs, Hindus and Mahomedans paraded the bazars at Lyallpur carrying the Union Jack and shouting ‘Government Zindabad’.
        Times of India 16 July 9/3
      2. a1963
        We had a steadily increasing crowd around us cheering and shouting: ‘Pakistan Zindabad, Jinnah Zindabad’, ‘Cunningham Governor Zindabad’.
        G. Cunningham in N. Mitchell, Sir George Cunningham (1968) vii. 132
      3. 1988
        At some places on the border the trains were stopped by mobs..heard to chant the slogan ‘Kashmir Day zindabad!’ (perhaps at that very moment, the crowds in Kashmir were shouting ‘Central Intelligence zindabad!’).
        A. Ghosh, Shadow Lines (1989) 229
      4. 2018
        ‘Are you Pakistani?’ he asked abruptly. His wonderful smile reappeared. ‘Me too, fam. Pakistan zindabad!’ He punched the air and chuckled.
        M. Khan, I am Thunder xi. 71
  2. noun
    1. 1938–
      In South Asian contexts: a shout of ‘zindabad’; a shout of approval or encouragement; a cheer.
      1. 1938
        India's revolutionaries..need not confine their activities to strikes, flag-hoisting, and the shouting of all the various kinds of ‘Zindabads’, and the like.
        Modern Review (India) vol. 64 521/1
      2. 1963
        The students were squatting on the ground in the open space in the school and loudly greeted the President with jubilation and zindabads.
        Indo-Iranica June 21
      3. 1985
        He..asked the assembled taxi drivers to raise three zindabads for the nation's supreme leader.
        N. Sahgal, Rich like Us xiii. 151
      4. 2001
        The collective blood pressure had skyrocketed. No Zindabads were heard.
        Statesman (India) (Nexis) 27 March

zindabad, int. & n. was first published in December 2007.

zindabad, int. & n. was last modified in July 2023.