zip file

noun

A computer file containing the zipped (compressed) contents of one or more files; a kind of compressed archive.

Meanings

nounzip file (plural zip files)

plural zip files

  1. A computer file containing the zipped (compressed) contents of one or more files; a kind of compressed archive.

    To e-mail a zip file, you need to attach the zip file to an e-mail message.

    2004, Alan Simpson, Alan Simpson's Windows XP Bible, page 505
    3 more examples

    To make that functionality available, you have to place a zip file containing the source in the top-level directory of the plug-in [...]

    2003, David Gallardo, Ed Burnette, Robert McGovern, Eclipse in action: a guide for Java developers, page 244

    Because zip is not just a compression format like deflation or gzip but an archival format, a single zip file often contains multiple [...]

    2006, Elliotte Rusty Harold, Java I/O

    However, pipes can't be used to read SAS data sets from a zip file in this way. Pipes are used with FILENAME [...]. There is a way to read and write SAS data sets that are stored in a zip file.

    2006, Phil Mason, SAS tips and techniques from around the globe, page 269

Origin

zip (meaning "move at high speed") was suggested by Robert Mahoney, friend of Phil Katz (original developer of the format).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch zipfile
  • zipfilea compressed computer file
Finnish ZIP-pakkaus, ZIP-tiedosto
  • ZIP-pakkausa compressed computer file
  • ZIP-tiedostoa compressed computer file
Cite this entry
APA

zip file. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zip%20file

MLA

“zip file.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zip%20file. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “zip file,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zip%20file.

Source: zip file on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.