What does zapper mean?
A zapper is an electrical device designed to kill insects and other small pests by giving them a high-voltage shock. Such devices are often called bug zappers and are particularly associated with patios, porches, kitchens, and other places where insects may gather. The word also has an informal, chiefly North American use for a microwave oven, especially in older speech or playful descriptions of kitchen technology. In this appliance sense, zapping an item means heating or cooking it quickly with microwave energy. The term is concrete, conversational, and mildly humorous: it borrows the sound and dramatic force of a zap, imagining a burst of electricity that wipes out a target. That imagery makes zapper useful in both consumer descriptions and fiction, although microwave is the standard, neutral word for the kitchen appliance. As a countable noun, a zapper may mean one particular pest-control device or, in the colloquial appliance sense, a microwave oven.
nounAn electrical device that kills insects and other small pests by delivering a high-voltage shock. In informal, chiefly North American usage, a zapper can also mean a microwave oven.
- An electrical device used to kill insects and other small pests by electrocution.
- Chiefly North American and informal: a microwave oven.
"The electric zapper quickly dealt with the mosquitoes on the patio."
"We switched on the zapper before opening the patio door."
"We called the microwave a zapper when it first arrived in the dorm."
The plural is used when referring to multiple pest-control devices or, informally, multiple microwave ovens.
"Two zappers were running in the barn."
A zapper turns the comic-book idea of a lightning-fast zap into an everyday pest-control device.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does zapper come from?
The word zap was recorded in American English in the early twentieth century, although its deeper origin is uncertain. Zapper was formed by adding the productive suffix -er to zap, allowing the word to denote an agent or instrument associated with zapping. Its appliance meaning developed as zapping came to describe destroying or neutralizing something with a quick blast of energy.
How zapper is actually used
As a name for a pest-control device, zapper is common in informal and consumer contexts. The microwave-oven sense is also informal, especially North American, and may sound dated or deliberately playful; microwave is the standard neutral term.
Easily confused with zapper
A zapper delivers an electrical shock or, informally, refers to a microwave oven, whereas a zipper fastens clothing or bags.