zoom

1 of 3

verb (1)

zoomed; zooming; zooms

intransitive verb

1
a
: to move with a loud low hum or buzz
b
: to go speedily : zip
cars zooming by on the highway
2
of an airplane : to climb for a short time at an angle greater than that which can be maintained in steady flight so that the machine is carried upward at the expense of stored kinetic energy
3
a
: to focus a camera or microscope on an object using a zoom lens so that the object's apparent distance from the observer changes
often used with in or out
b
: focus, zero
used with in
trying to zoom in on the cause of these problems
4
: to increase sharply
retail sales zoomed

transitive verb

: to cause to zoom

zoom

2 of 3

noun

1
a
: an act or process of zooming
especially : a sharp upward movement
b
: an image created by zooming
2
: a zooming sound
3
: a means of producing an enlarged image (as in a camera)
specifically : zoom lens

Zoom

3 of 3

verb (2)

Zoomed; Zooming; Zooms

intransitive verb

: to use the Zoom service to hold or participate in online meetings with enabled video support
… last week I Zoomed with friends in Ireland that I hadn't talked to in years …Megan Schuster and Michael Surrey
In the other room, while I was slacking off, my wife would be Zooming with her coworkers …Andrew Hamm
There's little doubt students who spend their summer Zooming with state legislators, journalists and commissioners are going to be future leaders.Joyce M. Davis

Example Sentences

Verb (1) They got in the car and zoomed away. The group of bicycle racers zoomed past. After her first successful cases she zoomed to the top of her profession. Housing sales have zoomed in recent months. Noun The camera was equipped with a zoom. The truck went by with a zoom. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Planes go zoom! Vulture, 10 Mar. 2023 Related Story The Cosmic Hunt for Primordial Black Holes The supermassive black hole, which is likely around 20 million times the mass of our Sun, is zooming through the universe at about 3.5 million miles per hour. Jackie Appel, Popular Mechanics, 9 Apr. 2023 The video, shot by Marc Seliger, captured that message in a beautiful clip of Moore and Liv posing side-by-side, the camera slowly zooming in on their radiant makeup. Nicholas Rice, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2023 Now streaming on Peacock, the Universal release zooms in on the competitive world of contemporary church praise teams, and includes real-life musicians Hawthorne, Chlöe Bailey, Jekalyn Carr and Quavo among the cast. Ashley Lee, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2023 One puck zoomed past unexpectedly last summer, when USC and UCLA declared their intentions to flee to the Big Ten. Jon Wilner | , oregonlive, 20 Mar. 2023 Mercury is zooming into your 1st House of Action today, giving you the gift of gab for the next few weeks. Tarot Astrologers, Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2023 But two does zoom. Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2023 The drone’s camera zoomed to Russian trenches behind. Yaroslav Trofimov, WSJ, 5 Mar. 2023
Noun
Like, a slow zoom in a lot of ’70s movies. Vulture Editors, Vulture, 25 Nov. 2022 In an exclusive report, respected analyst and supply chain specialist, Ming-Chi Kuo states that Apple will exclusively equip the iPhone 15 Pro Max with a periscope lens, used for optical zoom photography. Gordon Kelly, Forbes, 1 Apr. 2023 Transfamilies host free virtual parent support groups on zoom. Christopher Dawson, CNN, 30 Mar. 2023 The filmmaker crafts a style of crisply observed, overtone-rich realism that fuses the analytical with the mystical, in which pan shots and zoom shots hum with mysterious energies hidden seemingly not offscreen but behind it. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2023 Other shooting modes include options for dolly zooms, time-lapses, and panoramas. Jon Porter, The Verge, 29 Mar. 2023 Flanking the big camera is a 13 MP wide-angle lens and a 48 MP telephoto camera with an unlisted zoom rating. Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 28 Mar. 2023 Hitchcock's groundbreaking filming techniques were the first time a dolly zoom was ever used to distort perspective, which created the now-famous vertigo effect. Brandon Livesay, Peoplemag, 24 Mar. 2023 His style — a destabilizing mix of camera tilts and zooms, a color palette dominated by an eerie blend of navy, berry, cobalt and indigo — conjures an atmosphere of fear and distrust. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Mar. 2023 See More

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

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

imitative

Verb (2)

verbal derivative of Zoom trademarked name of a software program for teleconferencing

First Known Use

Verb (1)

1886, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun

1917, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (2)

2014, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of zoom was in 1886

Dictionary Entries Near zoom

Cite this Entry

“Zoom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zoom. Accessed 8 Jun. 2023.

Kids Definition

zoom

1 of 2 verb
1
: to speed along with a loud low hum or buzz
cars zooming down the highway
2
: to gain altitude quickly
the rocket zoomed into the sky

zoom

2 of 2 noun
1
: an act or process of zooming
2
: a zooming sound

More from Merriam-Webster on zoom

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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