Z-car, n.

z-car
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/z-car_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# Z-carnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun Z-car mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun Z-car. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

#### Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

### How common is the noun Z-car?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

2017 | 0.048
2018 | 0.054
2019 | 0.05
2020 | 0.049
2021 | 0.047
2022 | 0.04
2023 | 0.032
2024 | 0.031

### Where does the noun Z-car come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the noun Z-car is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for Z-car is from 1961, in the Radio Times.

### Nearby entries

1. zatch, n. 1950–
2. zawiya, n. 1836–
3. zawn, n. 1865–
4. zayat, n. 1823–
5. zayde, n. 1946–
6. zazen, n. 1727–
7. zazzy, adj. 1961–
8. Z band, n. 1950–
9. ZBB, n. 1976–
10. Z-bed, n. 1973–
11. Z-car, n.1961–
12. Z-day, n. 1925–
13. Z-DNA, n. 1979–
14. ze, pron. 1864–
15. zea, n. 1562–
16. zeagonite, n. 1823–
17. zeal, n. a1382–
18. zeal, v. 1542–1687
19. Zealander, n.¹ 1663–
20. Zealander, n.² 1773–
21. Zealandic, adj. 1807–

## Meaning & use

1. 1961–
   A police patrol car (after the title of a popular U.K. television series, from the radio call-sign ‘zulu’ allotted therein to a group of such cars); also used allusively.
   1. 1961

      > The call-sign is ZULU—they call them Z-cars. There are two young constables in each, ready to deal with trouble.

      Radio Times 28 December 29/2
   2. 1963

      > Z-car crashes.

      Daily Mail 23 April 1/6 (heading)
   3. 1965

      > Two black Z-cars—powerful Humbers—keep driving around the half-mile circle every five minutes watching for strangers.

      Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 19 December 32/5
   4. 1976

      > It's not like Barlow and Z Cars, all that shouting stuff and strong jaws. These boys, they was slimy.

      ‘D. Craig’, Faith, Hope & Death xviii. 127
   police television motoring
   1. police cruiser 1858–
      A police patrol car; (also, in early use) a police boat.
   2. police car 1881–
      A car (formerly also a carriage) used by the police.
   3. cop car 1921–
      A car used by the police; a police car.
   4. prowl car 1922–
      A police patrol car.
   5. cruiser 1929–
      A police-car that patrols the streets. North American.
   6. unit 1929–
      U.S. A motor vehicle, (now) esp. a police car.
   7. patrol car 1931–
      A police car used by officers for patrolling roads.
   8. scout car 1933–
      a. U.S. a police patrol car; b. Military a fast armoured vehicle used for reconnaissance and liaison.
   9. squad car 1938–
   10. Z-car 1961–
       A police patrol car (after the title of a popular U.K. television series, from the radio call-sign ‘zulu’ allotted therein to a group of such cars)…
   11. black and white 1965–
       U.S. slang. A (marked) police car.
   12. panda 1966–
       In extended use, with reference to the black-and-white markings of a giant panda. British colloquial. More fully panda car. A police patrol car…
   13. squad 1974–
       elliptical for squad car, n. Police slang.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

Z-car typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

Z-car is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of Z-car, n., 1960–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1960 | 0.0012
1970 | 0.0019
1980 | 0.0024
1990 | 0.0024
2000 | 0.0027
2010 | 0.0031

### Frequency of Z-car, n., 2017–2024

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.

Period | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
2017 | 0.048
2018 | 0.054
2019 | 0.05
2020 | 0.049
2021 | 0.047
2022 | 0.04
2023 | 0.032
2024 | 0.031

Originally published as part of the entry for Z, n.

Z, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.