different between zigzag vs zigzagger

English

Etymology

Attested from 1712. Borrowed from French zigzag (attested from 1662), possibly from a Germanic source via Walloon ziczac (although German Zickzack is attested only from 1703).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /?z??.zæ?/

Noun

zigzag (plural zigzags)

1. a line or path that proceeds by sharp turns in alternating directions
2. one of such sharp turns

Translations

Adjective

zigzag (not comparable)

1. Moving in, or having a zigzag.
   • 1855, Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South, London: Chapman & Hall, Volume 2, Chapter 6, pp. 78-79,^[1]

     His thoughts were fixed on one subject, and it was an effort to him to follow the zigzag remarks of his children—an effort which he did not make.

Translations

Verb

zigzag (third-person singular simple present zigzags, present participle zigzagging, simple past and past participle zigzagged)

1. To move or to twist in a zigzag manner.
   • 2002, Malcolm Yorke, Mervyn Peake: My Eyes Mint Gold: A Life, page 298:

     If the first two novels created a new genre — Peakean fantasy — then this third volume zigzags between several: the Bildungsroman, science fiction, social satire, morality tale and dystopian prophecy.

   Synonym: zig and zag

Translations

Adverb

zigzag (comparative more zigzag, superlative most zigzag)

1. in a zigzag manner or pattern

Translations

References

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French zigzag.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?z?x.z?x/
• Hyphenation: zig?zag

Noun

zigzag m (plural zigzags, diminutive zigzagje n)

1. zigzag (line in a sawtooth pattern)

Derived terms

• zigzaggen

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /zi?.za?/

Noun

zigzag m (plural zigzags)

1. zigzag

Romanian

Etymology

From French zigzag.

Noun

zigzag n (plural zigzaguri)

1. zigzag

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French zigzag.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /?i???a?/, [?i????a??]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /si??sa?/, [si???sa??]

Noun

zigzag m (plural zigzags or zigzagues)

1. zigzag

Derived terms

• zigzagueo m
• zigzaguear
• zigzagueante

References

“zigzag” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Etymology

zigzag +? -er

Noun

zigzagger (plural zigzaggers)

1. An attachment for a sewing machine allowing for zigzag stitches.
   • 1942 The Chemistry leaflet

     Join the pieces with overlapping seams and finish off by stitching with the zigzagger attachment.

   • 1954 Kiplinger's Personal Finance

     If a woman had the finest conventional sewing machine with all the attachments ever made, she could not do one tenth of the work that can be done on a modern zigzagger.

2. Someone who zigzags; a person who makes rapid changes of direction, especially (figuratively) in opinion, policy etc.
   • 2005 William Safire - Before the fall: an inside view of the pre-Watergate White House

     That is what has long worried many people about Nixon: they saw him as the political man, the born trimmer, the zigzagger and flipflopper, the constantly moving target

   • 2006 John A. Hall, Ralph Schroeder - An anatomy of power: the social theory of Michael Mann

     As a self-avowed 'zigzagger' who works back and forth between historical particularities and sociological categories,

   • 2017, David Friend, The Naughty Nineties, Twelve Books:

     In the view of Greenberg and his colleagues, Clinton […] was a zigzagger who tailored his views to suit voters.