zippo

See also: zippò and Zippo

English

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈzɪpəʊ/
  • Audio (General Australian):(file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈzɪpoʊ/
  • Rhymes: -ɪpəʊ

Etymology 1

From zip +‎ -o.

Adjective

zippo (not comparable)

  1. (slang) Zero; none whatsoever.
    • 2007 January 14, G. Pascal Zachary, “Out of Africa: Cotton and Cash”, in New York Times‎[1]:
      “The whole situation is magnificent news, especially when the problem has been zippo investment by large corporations in Africa,” says Robert H. Bates […] .
Translations

Noun

zippo (not comparable)

  1. (informal, emphatic) Zero. Typically used for emphasis, as when the listener might expect a positive quantity.
    We got 200 consoles and we sold 200 consoles and 200 minus 200 is ZIPPO, so I can't sell you anything right now.

Etymology 2

Popular slang among American soldiers in the Vietnam War; from the Zippo brand of lighter.

Alternative forms

Verb

zippo (third-person singular simple present zippos, present participle zippoing, simple past and past participle zippoed)

  1. (slang) To light on fire.
    • 1987, Reuben Noel, Nancy Noel, Saigon for a song‎[2]:
      I didn't want to burn 'em out, but that's policy. So we zippoed their hooch.
    • 2009, Nigel Cawthorne, Vietnam‎[3]:
      Once the last villagers had left Ben Suc, the buildings were doused with petrol and zippoed.
    • 2012, Tom Knox, The Lost Goddess‎[4]:
      The youth climbed off, Zippoed a wick in a glass bottle and walked towards Jake's flat.

Italian

Verb

zippo

  1. first-person singular present indicative of zippare

Anagrams

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