zapper

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English zap Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English zapper From zap + -er.

1. A remote control for a television.

   “The news is starting on the other channel; hand me the zapper.”

2. A device that electrifies or electrocutes.

   “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. Anything that exterminates.

   “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 […]”

   “You are going to go from being a toxic-thought overreactor to a toxic-thought zapper.”

4. A microwave oven.

   “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.”