zinger

«zinger» in Mova's school dictionary: a quick, clever and funny remark, often a sharp joke at… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a zinger, zingers)

meaning for a pupil

1) (informal) A zinger is a quick, clever and funny remark, often a sharp joke at someone. tree →

2) (informal) A zinger can also be something surprising or striking, like a zinger of a question. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday talk and comedy it names a witty one-liner. In stories it shows a sharp, funny character. Phrases: deliver a zinger, a real zinger.

examples

• Grandma came back with a real zinger that made everyone laugh. tree →
• The comedian had a zinger for every heckler. tree →
• The quiz ended with a zinger of a question. tree →
• He thought of the perfect zinger an hour too late. tree →
• A good zinger is funny without being cruel. tree →
• Her speech ended with a zinger. tree →

note

Informal, mainly American but understood everywhere. Countable. A zinger at someone can hurt; be kind.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «zinger» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.