zapper
nounUK /ˈzæp.ə(ɹ)/
Etymology From zap + -er.
1
Colloquial A remote control for a television.
- The news is starting on the other channel; hand me the zapper.
2
Colloquial A 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
Broadly, Colloquial, Figuratively Anything that exterminates.
- 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:
- You are going to go from being a toxic-thought overreactor to a toxic-thought zapper.2009, Jeffrey Bernstein, Liking the Child You Love:
4
Slang A 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:
- Derived terms
- like a bug to a zapper