ZOOM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does zoom mean? 

• ZOOM (noun)
  The noun ZOOM has 2 senses:

1. a rapid rise

2. the act of rising upward into the air

  Familiarity information: ZOOM used as a noun is rare.

• ZOOM (verb)
  The verb ZOOM has 3 senses:

1. move along very quickly

2. move with a low humming noise

3. rise rapidly

  Familiarity information: ZOOM used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ZOOM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A rapid rise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

rapid climb; rapid growth; zoom

Hypernyms ("zoom" is a kind of...):

ascension; ascent; rise; rising (a movement upward)

Derivation:

zoom (rise rapidly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of rising upward into the air

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

soar; zoom

Hypernyms ("zoom" is a kind of...):

ascending; ascension; ascent; rise (the act of changing location in an upward direction)

Derivation:

zoom (rise rapidly)

• ZOOM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they zoom    ... he / she / it zooms   
Past simple: zoomed   
Past participle: zoomed   
-ing form: zooming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move along very quickly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

whizz; whizz along; zoom; zoom along

Hypernyms (to "zoom" is one way to...):

hurry; speed; travel rapidly; zip (move very fast)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move with a low humming noise

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "zoom" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Rise rapidly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

soar; soar up; soar upwards; surge; zoom

Context example:

the dollar soared against the yen

Hypernyms (to "zoom" is one way to...):

arise; come up; go up; lift; move up; rise; uprise (move upward)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "zoom"):

billow; wallow (rise up as if in waves)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

zoom (the act of rising upward into the air)

zoom (a rapid rise)

 Context examples 

The plasma balls are zooming so fast through space it would take only 30 minutes for them to travel from Earth to the moon.

(Hubble Detects Giant 'Cannonballs' Shooting from Star, NASA)

Her reputation zoomed higher, she was so glad to run her own shop, and recently she started a second PR business.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Astronomers use this "zoom lens" effect to go hunting for amplified images of distant galaxies that otherwise would not be visible with today's telescopes.

(NASA's Great Observatories Team Up to Find Magnified and Stretched Image of Distant Galaxy, NASA)

"We also examined these models at a much higher resolution than is typically used - we zoomed in on areas of bedrock that were about 1 kilometer instead of the usual 20 kilometers."

(Antarctica's Effect on Sea Level Rise in Coming Centuries, NASA)

However, through the phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, a massive, foreground cluster of galaxies acts as a natural zoom lens in space by magnifying and stretching images of far more distant background galaxies.

(Massive Dead Disk Galaxy Challenges Theories of Galaxy Evolution, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The August 27 flyby was the first time Juno had its entire suite of science instruments activated and looking at the giant planet as the spacecraft zoomed past.

(Juno Successfully Completes Jupiter Flyby, NASA)