zoom

plural zooms

1. countableuncountableA humming noise from something moving very fast.

   the zoom of traffic

2. countablefigurativelyuncountableA quick ascent.
3. countablefigurativelyuncountableA big increase.
4. countableuncountableAn augmentation of a view, by varying the focal length of a lens, or digitally.

   What's the zoom like on your camera?

5. slanguncountableA recreational drug comprising a mixture of PCP and cannabis.

present singular third person zooms · participle present zooming · participle past zoomed · past zoomed

1. To move fast with a humming noise.

   We zoomed along the highway.

   2 more examples

   He ran to his right and another shot came at his legs. It hit the floor and zoomed into a huge carboy of clams that split in half and emptied a hundred shell-fish over the floor.

   1954, Ian Fleming, “Midnight Among The Worms”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 160

   […] and it was strange sitting in their brand-new comfortable car and hearing them talk of exams as we zoomed smoothly into town.

   1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC

2. aeronauticsTo zoom climb.
3. To move rapidly.
4. To go up sharply.

   prices zoomed

5. artsTo 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. transitiveTo 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

   1985 August 27, Aretha Franklin, Preston Glass, Narada Michael Walden, “Who's Zoomin' Who”, in Who's Zoomin' Who?, performed by Aretha Franklin, track 4

   1 more example

   "It boggles my mind what kind of mentality is at work there." He pointed to two recent issues of the magazine that featured cover stories were about Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross, two pop music icons whose sexual orientations have been widely speculated on in Black lesbian and gay communities. "It makes you wonder if it's an insult to the intelligence of Essence’s lesbian and gay leadership," Cunningham said. "Who's really zooming whom here?"

   1990 December 16, Chris Nealon, quoting Al Cunningham, “Essence Magazine Agrees To Run Gay Advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 22, page 13

1. Representing a humming sound

   Makowsky was playing the Bassgeige. Zoom... zoom-zoom.... The rest of the orchestra would join in presently.

   1918, Annie Vivanti Chartres, The Outrage, page 196

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.

   1939, Henry Miller, Tropic of Capricorn, Grove Press, published 1962, page 244

3. Suggesting a sudden change, especially an improvement or an increase

present singular third person zooms · participle present zooming · participle past zoomed · past zoomed

1. To participate in a video teleconferencing call.

plural 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.

   2022 September 27, Barclay Bram, “My Therapist, the Robot”, in The New York Times

present singular third person Zooms · participle present Zooming · participle past Zoomed · past Zoomed

1. ambitransitiveTo 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.

   2018 February 20, Adrienne So, “Sitting in on Remote Meetings? Working at a Standing Desk? Follow These Tips.”, in Wired

   1 more example

   These are professional, managerial, and technical workers – an estimated 35% of the workforce – who are putting in long hours at their laptops, Zooming into conferences, scanning electronic documents, and collecting about the same pay as before the crisis.

   2020 April 26, Robert Reich, “Covid-19 pandemic shines a light on a new kind of class divide and its inequalities”, in The Guardian

2. alternativebroadlyAlternative form of zoom (“to participate in a video teleconferencing call”).

plural Zooms

1. A videoconference using Zoom.

   I have two Zooms tomorrow: one in the morning and another at noon.

2. alternativebroadlyAlternative form of zoom (“a video teleconference call.”).
3. informalA video teleconference service or website.