a figure of speech in which a word is used to modify or govern two or more words although appropriate to only one of them or making a different sense with each, as in the sentence Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave (Charles Dickens)
Derived forms
zeugmatic (zjuːɡˈmætɪk)
adjective
zeugmatically (zeugˈmatically)
adverb
Word origin
C16: via Latin from Greek: a yoking, from zeugnunai to yoke
zeugma in American English
(ˈzjugmə; ˈzugmə)
noun
1.
syllepsis
2.
a figure of speech in which a single word, usually a verb or adjective, is syntactically related to two or more words, though having a different sense inrelation to each (Ex.: The room was not light, but his fingers were)