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zipper - 4 dictionary results
zip⋅per
[zip-er] 
ər
–noun
| 1. | Also called slide fastener. a device used for fastening clothing, valises, etc., consisting of two toothed tracks or spiral metal or plastic coils, each bordering one of two edges to be joined, and a piece that either interlocks or separates them when pulled. |
| 2. | a person or thing that zips. |
| 3. | a rubber and fabric boot or overshoe fastened up the leg by a zipper. |
| 4. | a large illuminated display of news bulletins or advertisements that rapidly and continously flash by on an upper part of a building. |
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
| 5. | zip 2 . |
zip
2 [zip] verb, zipped, zip⋅ping, noun, adjective –verb (used with object)
| 1. | to fasten or unfasten with a zipper: Zip your jacket. Zip open the traveling case. |
| 2. | to enclose or free by doing up or undoing a zipper: Zip this money into your wallet. Zip me out of my dress. |
–verb (used without object)
| 3. | to become fastened or unfastened by means of a zipper: a handy purse that zips shut. |
| 4. | to do up or undo a zipper. |
–noun
| 5. | a zipper. |
–adjective
| 6. | utilizing or having a zipper: a coat with a zip front. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To zipper
| zip·per (zĭp'ər) n. A fastening device consisting of parallel rows of metal, plastic, or nylon teeth on adjacent edges of an opening that are interlocked by a sliding tab. tr. & intr.v. zip·pered, zip·per·ing, zip·pers To fasten or unfasten or become fastened or unfastened with a zipper; zip. [Originally a trademark.] Word History: Trademark laws exist to prevent the appropriation of words like zipper. Registered in 1925, zipper was originally a B.F. Goodrich trademark for overshoes with fasteners. A Goodrich executive is said to have slid the fastener up and down on the boot and exclaimed, "Zip 'er up," echoing the sound made by this clever device. Zip already existed as both a noun and verb referring to a light sharp sound or to motion accompanied by that kind of sound (zip was first recorded as a noun in 1875; as a verb, in 1852). Both words were imitations of the sound made by a rapidly moving object. As the fastener that "zipped" came to be used in other articles, its name was used as well. B.F. Goodrich sued to protect its trademark but was allowed to retain proprietary rights only over Zipper Boots. Zipper itself had moved into the world of common nouns. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
zipper
1925, probably from zip (1). The trademark taken out on the name that year applied to a boot with zippers, not to the "lightning fastener" itself, which was at first called a zip.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Language Translation for : zipper
Spanish:
cremallera,
German:
der Reißverschluß,
Japanese:
ジッパー
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