zigzag

CEFRB1

/ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A line or path with sharp turns first one way, then another.

  2. 02

    verb

    To move along a path with repeated sharp turns.

Examples

  • The wind was so strong that the boat had to zigzag forward.

  • Santiago ran down the zigzag stairs.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /ˈzɪɡ.zeɪ̯ɡ/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Moving in, or having a zigzag.

  2. One of these sharp turns.

  3. A line or path that proceeds by sharp turns in alternating directions.

More examples

In context

  • And still, high in front, arose the precipitous barrier of the mountain, greened over where it seemed that scarce a harebell could find root, barred with the zigzags of a human road where it seemed that not a goat could scramble.

  • There, by dint of looking closely about me, I found a rough zig-zag descending path notched out: which I followed.

  • Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights, forming the series which culminated in the one beneath their feet.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

A mountain road may blank through the hills with many sharp bends.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.