- to bombard with electrical current, radiation, laser beams, etc.: The military has unsuccessfully tried using airborne lasers to zap missiles early in their flight.
- to attack, defeat, kill, or destroy with sudden speed and force: Late frost can zap tender fruit buds.Real magic is not about wizards zapping each other with spells.
- to cook or heat in a microwave oven: This coffee is almost cold—could you zap it for 30 seconds?
- to shoot or send rapidly: If you're in the neighborhood, zap me a text and come by!Some of his more complex arguments were not easy to zap into a sound bite.
- to skip over or delete (commercials on TV or radio) in recording or playing back a program: Digital recorders able to zap commercials made things harder for the advertising industry.
- to move quickly, forcefully, or destructively: Thoughts are like electric currents zapping through your mind. It used to be my childhood dream to zap around in a fast car like that.
- a jolt or charge of or as if of electricity: A wire shorted out and he got a zap from his microphone. These fresh-cut fries have a hint of zesty lime and a zap of tequila.
- an act or period of microwaving: We sell prepackaged foods that require only a zap in the microwave to make them table-ready.
- a forceful and sudden blow, hit, or attack: This game character can kill minions and goblins with a zap even after he dies.
- any method of political activism, usually of a disruptive nature: A gay rights group organized a zap of the restaurant to push for removal of its offensive sign.
- force, energy, or drive; zip: Their stew is a bit dull, but the steak chili soup packs much more zap and one heck of a lot of meat.
- to add a sudden infusion of energy, verve, color, attractiveness, or the like: This bright skirt is just the thing to zap up your spring wardrobe.
- to attack, kill, or destroy, as with a sudden bombardment
- to move quickly; rush
- (tr) computing
- to clear from the screen
- to erase
- to change channels rapidly by remote control
- energy, vigour, or pep
- an exclamation used to express sudden or swift action