How to Use zap in a Sentence

zap

1 of 2 verb
  • The aliens in the movie zapped people from spaceships.
  • The flowers were zapped by the cold weather.
  • We tape the show so we can zap through the commercials.
  • I zapped through the channels for a while before falling asleep.
  • She reheated her muffin by zapping it in the microwave for a few seconds.
  • In other ways, though, time has zapped some of the thriller’s zing.
    Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 17 Oct. 2019
  • Cheryl Gill told me to zap it in the microwave it in the husk for three minutes.
    Karina Bland, The Arizona Republic, 5 Aug. 2020
  • Even so, this still topped the list for both ease of use and ability to zap out spots.
    Rachel Chang, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Jan. 2023
  • The alcohol will zap the oily residue and grime left by a human hand.
    Berit Thorkelson, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2022
  • There’s an herbal, grassy finish here that belies the malt and zaps away some heft.
    BostonGlobe.com, 17 Sep. 2019
  • In the case of JagSat-1, that’s to zap the plasma with an electrical pulse and measure the results.
    al, 31 Aug. 2022
  • Closer to the edge, heat applied to the milk is better able to zap the bacteria.
    Chase Purdy, Quartz, 8 Aug. 2019
  • Plus a tape measure to get the tree diameters and a laser to zap tree heights.
    Simon Lewis, Quartz Africa, 12 Mar. 2020
  • The sample was then placed in an atom probe and zapped with a laser, displacing atoms one by one.
    Sophie Lewis, CBS News, 7 Feb. 2020
  • The song is just zapped of a lot of its energy because of the circumstances.
    Maggie Fremont, EW.com, 27 Apr. 2020
  • Just zap them for 15 seconds, slice, squeeze, and watch the juice inside unleash.
    Paul Kita, Men's Health, 20 July 2022
  • As Ellis fought back, one of the deputies zapped her with a stun gun and took her into custody, O’Dell said.
    oregonlive, 11 Feb. 2020
  • Still, something about the process can zap the creativity right out of us.
    Washington Post, 12 Aug. 2021
  • And then, the team’s occasional bullpen woes zapped them again.
    Susan Slusser, SFChronicle.com, 18 July 2019
  • Dampen the waffle cloth to remove dirt and grime and use the polishing cloth to zap streaks.
    Carolyn Forté, Good Housekeeping, 15 Aug. 2023
  • How does a mere set of sheets completely zap sweat and moisture?
    Melissa Epifano, PEOPLE.com, 9 May 2022
  • Now Johnson just has to hope that his party doesn't choose to zap him instead.
    David Meyer, Fortune, 12 Jan. 2022
  • The bolt looks like an instant flash but actually zaps up its path at one-third the speed of light.
    Rob Verger, Popular Science, 10 Feb. 2020
  • Why did ordinary people agree to zap a stranger with 450 volts?
    Sam Sommers, Fortune, 26 Feb. 2020
  • But my friend who bounces off the ceiling and talks constantly leaves me zapped in about 10 minutes.
    Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 1 Feb. 2024
  • Based on what’s shown in the trailer, the U.S.S. Enterprise gets zapped by a space anomaly which makes the crew break into song.
    James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 July 2023
  • His power has been zapped and his on-base prowess dampened.
    Michael Shapiro, SI.com, 26 June 2019
  • The main focus of the Fed right now is zapping the remaining sources of inflation.
    Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2023
  • But that was before the pandemic zapped most of the internships up.
    Scottie Andrew, CNN, 24 Apr. 2020
  • The Shredder tool can zap any kind of file, even the ones that the Finder steadfastly refuses to purge.
    Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2021
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zap

2 of 2 noun
  • Wait to dig the tubers until a killing freeze zaps all the foliage.
    Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 July 2023
  • With so little time between the switch of lights and the zap, the subjects still thought the center light was on.
    Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 25 Mar. 2019
  • Just make sure to do your research before your first zap.
    Audrey Noble, Harper's BAZAAR, 17 July 2020
  • After each zap, Dobbyn is pulled out of the MRI, questioned, and often asked to write on the paper again.
    NBC News, 11 Feb. 2018
  • The feeling was electric, the quick zaps and relief, the lingering pain and pleasure.
    Irina Groushevaia, Bon Appétit, 19 Feb. 2020
  • Two nights earlier, what felt like a brain zap jolted me awake.
    Morgan Stephens, CNN, 23 July 2021
  • But, unlike a team of costumed supervillains, they can’t be halted with a punch in the snoot or a zap from a ray gun.
    Christian Holub, EW.com, 16 Aug. 2017
  • The audience is less likely to zip, zap, or ignore ads when watched live.
    Kirk Wakefield, Forbes, 7 July 2021
  • Keeping them clean, though, might require something with a bit more zap.
    Wired, 3 Dec. 2019
  • With an electric zap, the liquid shifts forward; its body follows with the air sac acting like a tail.
    Rasha Aridi, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Dec. 2021
  • The trumpet of an elephant became the shriek of a TIE fighter; a high-tension wire struck with a hammer became the zaps of a blaster.
    Darryn King, HWD, 15 Dec. 2017
  • But one zap in the microwave and your crinkle cut inevitably becomes a wrinkled mess.
    Katie Strasberg Rousso, Southern Living, 8 May 2021
  • So some fish feel the zap of the barrier less, and others may not be impacted by the barrier at all and pass freely.
    Carolyn Hagler, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 May 2023
  • The range can sense when a pan is on it and uses an electromagnetic field to zap heat into the metal.
    Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2021
  • And yet…Friedkin, for all his virtuosic kinesthetic vérité zap, was very much in thrall to the theater.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Sep. 2023
  • If this student has veered away from the assignment a few too many times, the teacher can take remote control of the device and zap the tab themselves.
    Wired, 4 Aug. 2022
  • Batters have to wear shock collars and the opposing team is allowed 10 zaps per inning.
    Danny Hermosillo, Houston Chronicle, 20 Feb. 2020
  • The hot dishes on Baumé’s menu ($98/person), including ora king salmon mousse wrapped in poached leek, required only a quick zap in the microwave.
    Soleil Ho, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Feb. 2021
  • In the study, surgeons implanted a device that learned to detect when the patients had a craving to binge eat, and then deliver a small zap to the brain to lessen the craving.
    Erika Edwards, NBC News, 30 Aug. 2022
  • Think about the simple telegraph set, where one wire carries a signal that is transmitted one zap or quiet space at a time.
    Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 29 Apr. 2022
  • Indeed, the spectacle of the zap emerged from a community with strong ties to live performance.
    Sascha Cohen, Smithsonian, 10 July 2018
  • What a bright little treat for a chilly morning: a warm muffin, either freshly baked or given a quick zap, with a crunchy walnut top.
    Kari Sonde, Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2019
  • But after the skin-deep injection, researchers must hold a device over the spot that gives a little electrical zap.
    NBC News, 9 Apr. 2020
  • The 2-in-1 Pet Upholstery Tool works dry to pull out stubborn pet hair and wet to zap stains on furniture fabrics and mattresses.
    Sarah Bogdan, Good Housekeeping, 19 Oct. 2020
  • According to Yahoo, a Pittsburgh woman heard a zap from her headphones and felt a shock in her mouth earlier this year.
    Brittney McNamara, Teen Vogue, 10 Dec. 2018
  • Zapping that skin with electricity can actually feel like a zap to the hand.
    WIRED, 10 Aug. 2023
  • Pickard's happy hour crowd were swapping digital cash in milliseconds at one cent a zap.
    Shawn Tully, Fortune, 7 Feb. 2021
  • In a setup to test learning rates, high-CREB flies knew, after one zap, to avoid a smell associated with getting shocked.
    Michael Stone, Discover Magazine, 14 May 2018
  • But the real stars are the, ahem, stars—pimple patches of various sizes that help zap zits quickly and gently without popping.
    Garrett Munce, Men's Health, 11 Nov. 2022
  • But bleach, a powerful cleaner, can be used to zap germs, brighten surfaces, and eliminate odors.
    Megan Boettcher, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Aug. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'zap.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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