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zoom¹

  • /zuːm/

Rhymes with -uːm

Where it comes from

Uncertain. The verb was first attested c. 1892, as a noun in 1918 and as an interjection in 1942. Apparently related to Scots soom (“to buzz, hum”), dialectal English and Scots soom, swoom, sweem (“to spin or twirl at high speed”). Compare also dialectal English sweem (“to swoon, become dizzy or faint”).

noun zooms

  1. countable, uncountable A humming noise from something moving very fast. the zoom of traffic
  2. countable, figuratively, uncountable A quick ascent.
  3. countable, figuratively, uncountable A big increase.
  4. countable, uncountable An augmentation of a view, by varying the focal length of a lens, or digitally. What's the zoom like on your camera?
  5. slang, uncountable A recreational drug comprising a mixture of PCP and cannabis.

verb zooms · zooming · zoomed

  1. To move fast with a humming noise. We zoomed along the highway.
  2. To zoom climb.
  3. To move rapidly.
  4. To go up sharply. prices zoomed
  5. To change the focal length of a zoom lens.
  6. To manipulate a display so as to magnify or shrink it. to zoom in or zoom out
  7. transitive To check someone out; to investigate someone that one is interested in. (Who's zoomin' who?) / Take another look and tell me, baby / (Who's zoomin' who?) / Who's zoomin' who? / (Who's zoomin' who?) / Now the fish jumped off the hook, didn't I, baby? / (Who's zoomin' who?) / Yeah

interjection

  1. Representing a humming sound Makowsky was playing the Bassgeige. Zoom... zoom-zoom.... The rest of the orchestra would join in presently.
  2. Suggesting something moving quickly I would dance a few light fantastic steps to show which way the wind lay, and zoom! Like a breeze I was on the piano stool and doing a velocity exercise.
  3. Suggesting a sudden change, especially an improvement or an increase

zoom²

  • /zuːm/

Rhymes with -uːm

Where it comes from

A genericization of the trademark Zoom, a video teleconferencing software.

verb zooms · zooming · zoomed

  1. To participate in a video teleconferencing call.

noun zooms

  1. A video teleconferencing call. Then, later that day, I logged onto a zoom call and my mother and I set up our yoga mats in the living room, as we had been doing a couple of times a week during the pandemic.

Zoom³

Where it comes from

From Zoom, a videoconferencing software by Zoom Video Communications; renamed as such (from Saasbee) in May 2012 by Jim Scheinman after the American children's book Zoom City (1998) by Thacher Hurd for ostensibly encapsulating creativity, happiness and exploration. Scheinman had "been saving the name Zoom for a long time."

verb Zooms · Zooming · Zoomed

  1. ambitransitive To communicate with someone using the Zoom videoconferencing software. Whether you’re Zooming it in or not sitting down on the job, here’s how to do it right.
  2. alternative, broadly Alternative form of zoom (“to participate in a video teleconferencing call”).zoom

noun Zooms

  1. A videoconference using Zoom. I have two Zooms tomorrow: one in the morning and another at noon.
  2. alternative, broadly Alternative form of zoom (“a video teleconference call.”).zoom
  3. informal A video teleconference service or website.

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