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Glite Dictionary
🧥 To close with zipper 🗜️ To compress files
to zip up

to zip up

1 4.1
To compress files into a .zip file
  • phrasal verb
  • Specialized
translation icon : comprimir
  • He spent the afternoon zipping up several large files so they could be uploaded faster.

Examples

  • He gathered the files into a single pack, zipped it up, and e-mailed it to Noware.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • "She said, zipping up her case."

    Blog text (34)

  • "Zip this up for me, would you, bro?" She cut a glance at her wristwatch.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • [zip zipping up]

    Saltwater: The Battle for Ramree Island (2021)

  • To save space on the computer, she decided to zip up the project's files into a single archive.

  • Before sending the documents, make sure to zip up the folder to compress its size.

Synonyms

to zip a file
vsto zip up
  • Specialized
3.5

To put more than one file into one smaller file for sending or saving

is the informal computing phrase for creating that same archive
to repack
vsto zip up
  • Specialized
3.8

To put digital files into a new folder or format

focuses specifically on compressing into a common archive file
to gzip
vsto zip up
  • Specialized
7.6

To make a computer file smaller using a program called gzip

creates files in the common archive format rather than that specific format

Antonyms

to unzip
  • Specialized
3 3.2

Take files out of a ZIP file so you can use them

How Compressed

to zip up
  • Specialized
1 4.1
to compress
94 3.7

Surface Forms

zip up infinitive
zipped up past
zipped up past participle
zipping up present participle
zips up third person singular

Morphology

zip + up

The computing meaning 'to compress files into a .zip archive' is a metaphorical extension of 'zip' (to fasten or bring together) with 'up' giving a completive/agentive particle; a learner who knows the literal words may infer this is about packing or closing files but would not reliably derive the specific technical meaning of creating a ZIP archive. Because the connection is partly predictable from the constituents but requires domain knowledge or exposure to the technical sense, it is best classified as semi-transparent.

Etymology

Zip up in computing comes from the idea of a zipper. You put many files together and close them into one small package, like closing a bag, so to zip up a folder means 'to compress it into a .zip file'.