Dictionaries › English

zoom

Pronunciation: /zuːm/

The English word “zoom” has 17 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A humming noise from something moving very fast.
  2. A quick ascent.
  3. A big increase.
  4. An augmentation of a view, by varying the focal length of a lens, or digitally.
  5. A recreational drug comprising a mixture of PCP and cannabis.
  6. A video teleconferencing call.

verb

  1. To move fast with a humming noise.
  2. To zoom climb.
  3. To move rapidly.
  4. To go up sharply.
  5. To change the focal length of a zoom lens.
  6. To manipulate a display so as to magnify or shrink it.
  7. To check someone out; to investigate someone that one is interested in.
  8. To participate in a video teleconferencing call.

interjection

  1. Representing a humming sound
  2. Suggesting something moving quickly
  3. Suggesting a sudden change, especially an improvement or an increase

Etymology

Uncertain. The verb was first attested c. 1892, as a noun in 1918 and as an interjection in 1942. Apparently related to Scots soom (“to buzz, hum”), dialectal English and Scots soom, swoom, sweem (“to spin or twirl at high speed”). Compare also dialectal English sweem (“to swoon, become dizzy or faint”).

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “zoom” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.