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to zag

to zag

1 5.6
To turn sharply to the other side while moving
  • verb
  • /zæɡ/
translation icon : zigzaguear
  • Right now, these apps may be on a path that runs parallel to Twitter's business plan, but what happens when that path zags?

Shopify comes in and says, we're going to zag.

Examples

  • We zig and zag as much as we possibly can, and it's more compelling to us to leave a trail of confusion.

  • Oh, I zips and I zags, I to's and fro's - dat's what you axe me an' dat's what you knows.

  • And and that's why I think there were the media has to, you know, zag when everybody wants them to zig.

  • But, you know, when people are zigging, he is always zagging, you know, And so we'll, we'll get to some more turns of this wheel.

  • What is the gravitational energy gained by the object because it has fallen down, It is zagging down due to gravity.

  • When we zig, he zags.

  • When we zig, he zags.

  • And if we need to zig and zag as the format settles, will zig and zag.

  • As a pathway or trail of thought, it zigs; and, having zigged, then, in a very purposeful and deliberate way, it zags.

    Academic text (1998)
  • The children love to zag back and forth while riding their bikes down the path.

Synonyms

to jerk
vsto zag
217 2.0

To move something suddenly and sharply

is specifically a quick change of direction often within a pattern
to veer
vsto zag
63 4.2

To change direction suddenly

is similar but emphasizes a single quick turn within a zigzag
to lurch
vsto zag
34 5.6

To move suddenly and unsteadily, often forward or to one side

is a controlled sharp change in direction rather than unsteady movement
to jolt
vsto zag
15 3.7

To move in a sudden, rough way

is a deliberate sharp turn rather than a rough or shaking movement
to swing around
vsto zag
10 3.2

Turn quickly to face the opposite direction

is a rapid sharp turn that may not reverse direction fully
swerve
vsto zag
7 3.7

A sudden sharp turn to avoid something

is an abrupt turn but may be part of an alternating zigzag move
to corkscrew
vsto zag
2 6.8

To move in a twisting spiral path

is a quick sharp directional change, not a continuous spiral motion
to zigzag
vsto zag
1 3.9

To move by turning sharply first one way then the other

is a single sharp turn often as part of that alternating pattern
to jink
vsto zag
1 8.1

To move quickly to avoid something by changing direction

is a sharp turn that can be used for pattern movement rather than only evasion
to switchback
vsto zag
1 6.4

To move along a path that zigzags up or down a slope

is one quick sharp turn rather than a full zigzag path

Idioms

To make the wrong choice when a different action is needed

To do the wrong thing when a different action is needed

Compounds

A series of paper folds that go back and forth like the letter Z

How Sharp

to swerve
61 2.8
to zag
1 5.6
to veer
63 4.2
pivot
15 3.9
to bend
268 1.0
turn
485 1.0

Surface Forms

zag infinitive
zagged past
zagged past participle
zagging present participle
zags third person singular

Etymology

Zag as a verb comes from the same pair zigzag, which copies a back-and-forth move and originally came from the German 'zickzack'. So to zag is to make a quick, sudden 'turn' in the opposite direction during a zigzag.