Adjacent Words

zoom definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a rapid rise [syn: rapid climb, rapid growth, zoom]
2: the act of rising upward into the air [syn: soar, zoom] v
1: move along very quickly [syn: zoom, zoom along, whizz, whizz along]
2: move with a low humming noise
3: rise rapidly; "the dollar soared against the yen" [syn: soar, soar up, soar upwards, surge, zoom]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: imitative Date: 1903 intransitive verb 1. a. to move with a loud low hum or buzz b. to go speedily ; zip <cars zooming by on the highway> 2. of an airplane to climb for a short time at an angle greater than that which can be maintained in steady flight so that the machine is carried upward at the expense of stored kinetic energy 3. a. to focus a camera or microscope on an object using a zoom lens so that the object's apparent distance from the observer changes — often used with in or out b. focus, zero — used with in <trying to zoom in on the cause of these problems> 4. to increase sharply <retail sales zoomed> transitive verb to cause to zoom II. noun Date: 1917 1. a. an act or process of zooming; especially a sharp upward movement b. an image created by zooming 2. a zooming sound 3. a means of producing an enlarged image (as in a camera); specifically zoom lens

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 intr. move quickly, esp. with a buzzing sound. 2 a intr. cause an aeroplane to mount at high speed and a steep angle. b tr. cause (an aeroplane) to do this. 3 a intr. (of a camera) close up rapidly from a long shot to a close-up. b tr. cause (a lens or camera) to do this. --n. 1 an aeroplane's steep climb. 2 a zooming camera shot. Phrases and idioms: zoom lens a lens allowing a camera to zoom by varying the focal length. Etymology: imit.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(zooms, zooming, zoomed) 1. If you zoom somewhere, you go there very quickly. (INFORMAL) We zoomed through the gallery... = speed VERB: V prep/adv 2. If prices or sales zoom, they increase greatly in a very short time. The economy shrank and inflation zoomed... = soar VERB: V 3. A zoom is the same as a zoom lens. N-COUNT