zapper

English

Etymology

zap +‎ -er

Pronunciation
  • (UK) enPR: zăpʹə(r), IPA(key): /ˈzæp.ə(ɹ)/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -æpə(ɹ)

Noun

zapper (plural zappers)

  1. (colloquial) A remote control for a television.
    The news is starting on the other channel; hand me the zapper.
  2. (colloquial) A device that electrifies or electrocutes.
    Hyponym: bug zapper
    • 2005, Robert Wood, Pushing Envelopes, page 51:
      Miranda is not the sort of person to carry a zapper but she has an oar that would cause a dog a lot more grief if it caught it full on.
  3. (colloquial, figuratively, by extension) Anything that exterminates.
    • 1989, Microtimes, volume 6, page 140:
      If games are your life, the choice of a joystick is desperately important. Casual alien-zappers can get by with the cheapest generic Taiwanese clone-stick […]
    • 2009, Jeffrey Bernstein, Liking the Child You Love:
      You are going to go from being a toxic-thought overreactor to a toxic-thought zapper.
  4. (slang) A microwave oven.
    • 2011, Bob Cohn, To Catch a Catch, page 49:
      I hate to spoil your microwave testimonial, but they were actually cooked in the regular oven this morning and just re-heated in the zapper.

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English zap.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /za.pe/
  • audio(file)

Verb

zapper

  1. to channel-hop, channel surf
  2. (figuratively) to dither, change one's opinion rapidly, vacillate
  3. to skip over
  4. (informal) to forget

Conjugation
Conjugation of zapper (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple zapper
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple zappant
/za.pɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle zappé
/za.pe/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses)		 present zappe
/zap/		 zappes
/zap/		 zappe
/zap/		 zappons
/za.pɔ̃/		 zappez
/za.pe/		 zappent
/zap/
imperfect zappais
/za.pɛ/		 zappais
/za.pɛ/		 zappait
/za.pɛ/		 zappions
/za.pjɔ̃/		 zappiez
/za.pje/		 zappaient
/za.pɛ/
past historic2 zappai
/za.pe/		 zappas
/za.pa/		 zappa
/za.pa/		 zappâmes
/za.pam/		 zappâtes
/za.pat/		 zappèrent
/za.pɛʁ/
future zapperai
/za.pʁe/		 zapperas
/za.pʁa/		 zappera
/za.pʁa/		 zapperons
/za.pʁɔ̃/		 zapperez
/za.pʁe/		 zapperont
/za.pʁɔ̃/
conditional zapperais
/za.pʁɛ/		 zapperais
/za.pʁɛ/		 zapperait
/za.pʁɛ/		 zapperions
/za.pə.ʁjɔ̃/		 zapperiez
/za.pə.ʁje/		 zapperaient
/za.pʁɛ/
(compound
tenses)		 present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses)		 present zappe
/zap/		 zappes
/zap/		 zappe
/zap/		 zappions
/za.pjɔ̃/		 zappiez
/za.pje/		 zappent
/zap/
imperfect2 zappasse
/za.pas/		 zappasses
/za.pas/		 zappât
/za.pa/		 zappassions
/za.pa.sjɔ̃/		 zappassiez
/za.pa.sje/		 zappassent
/za.pas/
(compound
tenses)		 past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — zappe
/zap/		 — zappons
/za.pɔ̃/		 zappez
/za.pe/		 —
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading
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