UNZIP
What does "UNZIP" mean?
To open something fastened with a zipper, or to decompress a compressed computer file.
Meanings
- To undo a zipper, opening a garment, bag, or fastening. He stopped to unzip his jacket as the trail grew warmer.
- To expand a compressed (zipped) computer file back to its original form. Download the archive and unzip it into your home folder. technical
Did you know?
- The ZIP you 'unzip' on a computer was invented by programmer Phil Katz, whose PKZIP tool popularized the format in 1989 — the name nods to the clothing zipper's promise of fast opening.
Word origin
Formed in English from the reversing prefix 'un-' plus 'zip', an early-20th-century imitative word for the sound of a fast tearing motion; the computing sense dates from late-20th-century file compression.
Remember it
UN-ZIP: undo the ZIP — sound it out and you hear the zipper sliding open.
A little poem
One tug undoes the teeth's tight seam-
the bag, the coat, the folder spill their dream.
couplet
Wordplay
- Why did the file go to therapy? It had a lot to unzip.
What it teaches
Whatever you compress to save room you will, one day, have to unzip and face in full.
Quick facts
What does UNZIP mean?
To open something fastened with a zipper, or to decompress a compressed computer file.
Is UNZIP a valid word?
Yes — UNZIP is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is UNZIP?
UNZIP has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does UNZIP come from?
Formed in English from the reversing prefix 'un-' plus 'zip', an early-20th-century imitative word for the sound of a fast tearing motion; the computing sense dates from late-20th-century file compression.
What can UNZIP teach us?
Whatever you compress to save room you will, one day, have to unzip and face in full.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.