ZIGZAG (zigzagged, zigzagging)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: zigzagged    , zigzagging   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does zigzag mean? 

• ZIGZAG (noun)
  The noun ZIGZAG has 1 sense:

1. an angular shape characterized by sharp turns in alternating directions

  Familiarity information: ZIGZAG used as a noun is very rare.

• ZIGZAG (adjective)
  The adjective ZIGZAG has 1 sense:

1. having short sharp turns or angles

  Familiarity information: ZIGZAG used as an adjective is very rare.

• ZIGZAG (verb)
  The verb ZIGZAG has 1 sense:

1. travel along a zigzag path

  Familiarity information: ZIGZAG used as a verb is very rare.

• ZIGZAG (adverb)
  The adverb ZIGZAG has 1 sense:

1. in a zigzag course or on a zigzag path

  Familiarity information: ZIGZAG used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ZIGZAG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An angular shape characterized by sharp turns in alternating directions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

zag; zig; zigzag

Hypernyms ("zigzag" is a kind of...):

angular shape; angularity (a shape having one or more sharp angles)

Derivation:

zig-zag (having short sharp turns or angles)

zigzag (travel along a zigzag path)

zigzag (having short sharp turns or angles)

• ZIGZAG (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having short sharp turns or angles

Synonyms:

zig-zag; zigzag

Similar:

crooked (having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned)

Derivation:

zigzag (an angular shape characterized by sharp turns in alternating directions)

• ZIGZAG (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they zigzag    ... he / she / it zigzags   
Past simple: zigzagged   
Past participle: zigzagged   
-ing form: zigzagging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Travel along a zigzag path

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

crank; zigzag

Context example:

The river zigzags through the countryside

Hypernyms (to "zigzag" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

"Zigzag" entails doing...:

turn (change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

They zigzag up the hill

Derivation:

zigzag (an angular shape characterized by sharp turns in alternating directions)

• ZIGZAG (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In a zigzag course or on a zigzag path

Context example:

birds flew zigzag across the blue sky

 Context examples 

Some people can tell when they are about to have a migraine because they see flashing lights or zigzag lines or they temporarily lose their vision.

(Migraine, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

An observer sitting on Thalassa would see Naiad in an orbit that varies wildly in a zigzag pattern, passing by twice from above and then twice from below.

(NASA Finds Neptune Moons Locked in 'Dance of Avoidance', NASA)

To go from the door to the head of the bed was a zigzag course that he was never quite able to accomplish in the dark without collisions.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Two major conformational groups have been characterized, alpha-keratin, whose peptide backbone forms an alpha-helix, and beta-keratin, whose backbone forms a zigzag or pleated sheet structure.

(Cytokeratin, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If there had not been so much anger, there would have been desperate awkwardness; but their straightforward emotions left no room for the little zigzags of embarrassment.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Jo heard Amy panting after her run, stamping her feet and blowing on her fingers as she tried to put her skates on, but Jo never turned and went slowly zigzagging down the river, taking a bitter, unhappy sort of satisfaction in her sister's troubles.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Coming near the beach, I saw, not only the boatmen, but half the people of the town, lurking behind buildings; some, now and then braving the fury of the storm to look away to sea, and blown sheer out of their course in trying to get zigzag back.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He ran in little zigzags from one knot of people to another, whilst his peculiar appearance drew a running fire of witticisms as he went, so that he reminded me irresistibly of a snipe skimming along through a line of guns.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)