zappern.
/ˈzapə/ (a) A person, technique, etc., that kills or does away with something. (b) spec. Any of various devices for destroying or warding off pests; also (properly with capital initial), a proprietary name in the U.S. for an agricultural machine of this kind.
ΘΠ
the world > life > death > killing > killer > [noun]
baneOE
quelmerOE
quellerOE
murderer1340
slaughtermana1350
slayerc1380
killer1535
dispatcher1549
executioner1597
slaughterer?1611
widowmakera1616
mactator1656
zapper1969
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > pest control > [noun] > devices or substances for destroying pests
hopperdozer1877
hexachlorethane1898
bug chaser1917
zapper1969
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > utter destruction or annihilation > one who annihilates
extinguisher1562
expungerc1611
exterminator1611
annihilator1666
decreator1678
blotter out1827
exterminatrix1880
exterminatress1891
liquidator1949
zapper1969
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > [noun] > clearing or sweeping away > riddance > one who
eliminator1847
zapper1969
1969 Guardian 27 May 8/5 The United States colonel who formerly commanded them.. is now busy evolving a ‘zapper’ technique for scything down nippa palm groves where Vietcong are reported to be hiding with direct fire artillery.
1970 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 14 Dec. 3/3 The rat zapper does not work on Saturdays or Sundays, but there were still no rats to be seen there yesterday.
1973 Sci. Amer. Sept. 74/2 One particularly promising application, making use of small portable zappers, is for greenhouses and other horticultural enterprises where the cost of soil preparation per acre is not an important consideration. For row crops..the self-propelled Zapper is presently economic only when chemical weed-control costs are higher than $15 per acre.
1975 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 25 Mar. tm271/2 Zapper. For agricultural machine which employs microwaves to control vegetation and vegetation damaging pests.
1976 Nature 12 Feb. 441/1 The general message is that although various alternatives are promising, there is no magic ‘insect zapper’, as Kennedy put it, to replace chemical poisons in the near future.
1977 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 30 July 4/1 How many bugs do zappers zap?
1983 Monitor (McAllen, Texas) 23 June 10 c (advt.) 1 acre bug zapper. $59·97. 35 watt ultraviolet fluorescent bulb has an effective range up to 1 acre for outdoor comfort.
Draft additions 1993
The remote-control unit for a piece of electronic equipment, esp. a television or video recorder. Cf. zap v. 8. slang (originally U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > [noun] > playback equipment > specific part
play1978
zapper1984
society > communication > broadcasting > television > transmitting or receiving apparatus > [noun] > television set > remote control device
channel changer1955
zapper1984
channel zapper1985
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > control(s) > [noun] > control panel or unit
brain-box1876
control box1878
control panel1902
panel board1905
board1940
console1944
touch panel1957
keypad1966
pad1976
zapper1984
1984 Adweek (U.S.) 30 Jan. (Eastern ed.) 50/2 The machine can automatically activate a switching device that does anything from switch the channel to turn off the TV... It may be a year before his hybrid zapper is on the market.
1987 Los Angeles Times 5 Feb. iii. 10/1 Hit the zapper, Maude. Maybe there's some bowling on another channel.
1990 What Satellite July 123/1 BSB comes onto the screen when you select it, using just the one remote zapper.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1969