Link Centre Dictionary

zigzag

zig·zag

UK/ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/ US/ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/ uncommon slang us
adjective (1) verb (1) noun (1) adverb (1)

adjective

1.

having short sharp turns or angles

Similar

verb

1.

travel along a zigzag path

  • “The river zigzags through the countryside”
Synonyms

noun

1.

an angular shape characterized by sharp turns in alternating directions

Synonyms

adverb

1.

in a zigzag course or on a zigzag path

  • “birds flew zigzag across the blue sky”

Origin

Attested from 1712. Borrowed from French zigzag (attested from 1662), possibly from a Germanic source via Walloon ziczac (although German Zickzack is attested only from 1703). Also, possibly from the shape of the letter Z, which appears twice in the word. Sense “drunk” from the zigzag movements of a drunk person.

Phrases

  • zigzag clover
  • zigzag railway
  • zigzag salamander

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.