zigzag
adverb
- pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, tracing a path between two parallel lines
verb
- to move in a course changing direction sharply frequently
noun
- pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, tracing a path between two parallel lines
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L342626 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/ / [ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ] / /ˈzɪɡ.zeɪ̯ɡ/
adj
Etymology: 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.
- Moving in, or having a zigzag.
“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.”
“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.”
- Drunk.
adv
Etymology: 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.
- In a zigzag manner or pattern.
name
Etymology: Named after the nearby Zigzag River.
- A small town in Oregon.
noun
Etymology: 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.
- A line or path that proceeds by sharp turns in alternating directions.
“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: […].”
“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.”
- One of these sharp turns.
verb
Etymology: 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.
- To move or to twist in a zigzag manner.
“[…] she saw them as we see the throngs which cover the canvases of Sallaert, Van Alsloot, and others of that school—vast masses of beings, jostling, zigzagging, and processioning in definite directions, but whose features are indistinguishable by the very comprehensiveness of the view.”
“At the base this vent was dark, cool, and smelled of dry, musty dust. It zigzagged so that he could not see ahead more than a few yards at a time.”