Zigzag Meaning
/ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA line or path that proceeds by sharp turns in alternating directions.
nounOne of these sharp turns.
Sentence Examples
The wind was so strong that the boat had to zigzag forward.
Santiago ran down the zigzag stairs.
CEFR Practice Quiz
A mountain road may ____ through the hills with many sharp bends.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The path follows a ____ pattern up the mountain, which makes the long climb several a bit easier for hikers today.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: […]."
— 1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Advice from a Caterpillar”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 70:
"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."
— 1891 February–December, Robert Louis Stevenson, In the South Seas […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1896, →OCLC:
"The entrance to this ancient place of devotion was under a very low round arch, ornamented by several courses of that zig-zag moulding, resembling shark's teeth, which appears so often in the more ancient Saxon churches."
— 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter II, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 20:
"His thoughts were fixed on one subject, and it was an effort to him to follow the zigzag remarks of his children—an effort which he did not make."
— 1854 September – 1855 January, [Elizabeth Gaskell], chapter 6, in North and South. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1855, →OCLC, pages 78–79:
"There, by dint of looking closely about me, I found a rough zig-zag descending path notched out: which I followed."
— 1866 December 10, Charles Dickens, “No. 1 Branch Line. The Signal-Man.”, in Charles Dickens, editor, Mugby Junction. The Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round, volume XVI, London: Published at No. 26, Wellington Street; and by Messrs. Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 21, column 1:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
A mountain road may ____ through the hills with many sharp bends.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The path follows a ____ pattern up the mountain, which makes the long climb several a bit easier for hikers today.