zapper

Z10A1P3P3E1R1
UK/ˈzæp.ə(ɹ)/

noun

A remote control for a television.

“The news is starting on the other channel; hand me the zapper.”

Less commonScrabble 19
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Meanings

nounzapper (plural zappers)

plural zappers

  1. colloquialA remote control for a television.

    The news is starting on the other channel; hand me the zapper.

  2. colloquialA device that electrifies or electrocutes.

    Miranda is not the sort of person to carry a zapper but she has an oar that would cause a dog a lot more grief if it caught it full on.

    2005, Robert Wood, Pushing Envelopes, page 51
  3. broadlycolloquialfigurativelyAnything that exterminates.

    You are going to go from being a toxic-thought overreactor to a toxic-thought zapper.

    2009, Jeffrey Bernstein, Liking the Child You Love
    1 more example

    If games are your life, the choice of a joystick is desperately important. Casual alien-zappers can get by with the cheapest generic Taiwanese clone-stick […]

    1989, Microtimes, volume 6, page 140
  4. slangA microwave oven.

    I hate to spoil your microwave testimonial, but they were actually cooked in the regular oven this morning and just re-heated in the zapper.

    2011, Bob Cohn, To Catch a Catch, page 49

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
remote

Origin

From zap + -er.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish kaukosäädin, kake
  • kaukosäädinremote control
  • kakeremote control
French zapette, zappette
  • zapetteremote control
  • zappetteremote control
German Fernbedienung, Elektroschocker
  • Fernbedienungremote control
  • Elektroschockerdevice that electrifies or electrocutes
  • Elektroschockgerätdevice that electrifies or electrocutes
  • Vernichteranything that exterminates
Spanish mando a distancia
  • mando a distanciaremote control
Swedish fjärrkontroll
  • fjärrkontrollremote control
Ukrainian пульт керування
  • пульт керування (pulʹt keruvannja)remote control

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with zapper

rappersnappertrapperdapperflapperclappercapperscrappersapperslapperentrappergrapperplapperschnapperstrapperuncapper
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

zapper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zapper

MLA

“zapper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zapper. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “zapper,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zapper.

Source: zapper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.