Words That Start With Z in the Dictionary

Slang for pizza.

Any of several related Mediterranean herbs, as wild marjoram or thyme.

A foamy, custardlike mixture of egg yolks, sugar, and Marsala wine, usually served hot or chilled as a dessert.

A large, flat cushion, used in Japan for sitting or kneeling on the floor.

A person of outstanding virtue and piety.

A round cushion used in Zen meditation.

An artificial mixture, resembling smalt, containing cobalt oxide and, usually, silica, used to produce a blue color in glass and in ceramic glazes.

(of a woman) Having a pleasantly plump figure.

To move in one of the two directions followed in a zigzag course.

A large industrial or financial conglomerate of Japan.

The financial community of Japan.

A paper money and monetary unit of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, equal to 100 makuta.

A tax, comprising percentages of personal income of every kind, levied as almsgiving for the relief of the poor: the third of the Pillars of Islam.

Russian cookery hors d'oeuvres, consisting of tiny open sandwiches spread with caviar, smoked sausage, etc, or a cold dish such as radishes in sour cream, all usually served with vodka.

A sheepskin coat of the kind worn by shepherds in Spain.

A Latin-American of mixed indigenous and African ancestry.

A machine used to resurface ice for skating.

Any of various plants of the genus Zamia, chiefly of tropical and subtropical America, having a short, tuberous stem and a crown of palmlike pinnate leaves.

(In British India) A landlord required to pay a land tax to the government.

(In British India) A landlord required to pay a land tax to the government.

The part of the house in which the women and girls of a family are secluded.

A freshwater pikeperch, Stizostedion (Lucioperca) lucioperca, of central Europe, valued as a food fish.

Ludicrously or whimsically comical; clownish.

To kill or shoot.

A Cuban dance in three-quarter time emphasizing staccato stamping footwork.

A Spanish dance for a solo performer, marked by rhythmic tapping of the heels.

A Turkish police officer.

A mineral, hydrated basic nickel carbonate, occurring in the form of emerald-green incrustations on chromite and magnetite.

(In the Sudan and adjoining regions) A protective enclosure, as of thorn bushes.

(In the Levant) A holder, usually of ornamental metal, for a coffee cup without a handle.

A Spanish opera having spoken dialogue and often a satirically treated, topical theme.

Ridges of snow formed on a snowfield by the action of the wind.

A hatchetlike tool for cutting and punching nail holes in roofing slate.

The seventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

A genus of large grasses having broad ribbon-shaped leaves and monoecious flowers of which the staminate forms an ample terminal panicle and the pistillate is in a sessile axillary spike enveloped by numerous bracts

Fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor.

A person who shows enthusiastic diligence.

Full of, characterized by, or due to zeal; ardently active, devoted, or diligent.

A cytokinin occurring in corn, spinach, and peas.

a small, three-masted vessel of the Mediterranean, formerly much used by corsairs, now employed to some extent in commerce.

Any of several horselike African mammals of the genus Equus, each species having a characteristic pattern of black or dark-brown stripes on a whitish background.

a small, slender freshwater fish, Brachydanio rerio, having luminous bluish-black and silvery-gold horizontal stripes: popular in home aquariums.

Any of several trees, especially Connarus guianensis, of tropical America, yielding a striped, hard wood used for making furniture.

The offspring of a zebra and an ass.

Resembling a zebra.

The offspring of a female horse and a male zebra.

One of a domesticated form of cattle, Bos taurus indicus, of India, having a large hump over the shoulders and a large dewlap.

A small shining disk or spangle used for ornamentation, as on women's clothing and accessories or on theatrical costumes. Another word for sequin.

The letter Z or z. (or letter used by bearded band in UK and Canada)

(Hebrew) Charity or the giving of charity.

An East Indian drug consisting of the rhizome of either of two species of curcuma, Curcuma zedoaria or C. aromatica, used as a stimulant.

The offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

A soft, yellow powder of simple proteins obtained from corn, used chiefly in the manufacture of textile fibers, plastics, and paper coatings.

An environmental cue, as the length of daylight or the degree of temperature, that helps to regulate the cycles of an organism's biological clock.

The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.

(In the former U.S.S.R.) An inmate of a forced-labor camp.

A type of Oriental cymbal.

Any of several trees of a certain genus native to Asia, related to and resembling the elms.

Traditional religious songs that are sung by Jews during the evening meal on Friday and the afternoon meal on Saturday.

One of a system of elected local assemblies established in 1864 by Alexander II to replace the authority of the nobles in administering local affairs after the abolition of serfdom: became the core of the liberal movement from 1905 to 1917.

A Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition.

The meditation room of a Zen monastery.

The point on the celestial sphere vertically above a given position or observer.

Any of a group of hydrated silicates of aluminum with alkali metals, commonly occurring as secondary minerals in cavities in basic volcanic rocks: used for their molecular sieve properties because they undergo dehydration with little or no change in crystal structure.

A large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments).

A gentle, mild breeze.

A large dirigible balloon consisting of a long, cylindrical, covered framework containing compartments or cells filled with gas, and of various structures for holding the engines, passengers, etc.

One sextillionth (10-21) of a second.

No quantity or number.

Coming in a series before the first.

Anything added to impart flavor, enhance one's appreciation, etc.

Full of zest; piquant.

The sixth letter of the Greek alphabet.

270bytes; 1024 exabyte.

One sextillion (1021) hertz.

The use of a word to modify or govern two or more words when it is appropriate to only one of them or is appropriate to each but in a different way.

A tool for cutting roof slate.

A clumsy, stupid person.

A hybrid of a cow and a yak.

A civet, Viverra zibetha, of India, the Malay Peninsula, and other parts of Asia.

Of or relating to the sable.

The international generic term for azidothymidine.

To move in one of the two directions followed in a zigzag course.

(Among the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians) a temple of Sumerian origin in the form of a pyramidal tower.

A line, course, or progression characterized by sharp turns first to one side and then to the other.

A meeting of dervishes at which a phrase containing a name of God is chanted rhythmically to induce a state of ecstasy.

Zero; nothing.

(In British India) Any of the districts into which a province was divided for administrative purposes.

An extremely large, indeterminate number.

A person of incalculably great wealth.

A cassock with a small cape attached.

A complex zither played especially in Hungary.

A trace element that is necessary for a healthy immune system.

A salt derived from H2ZnO2, the acid form of amphoteric zinc hydroxide.

Pertaining to or contaning zinc.

The art or process of producing a printing surface on a zinc plate, especially of producing one in relief by etching away unprotected parts with acid.

A light tan, water-insoluble compound, C4H6N2S4Zn, used as a fungicide for fruits and vegetables.

A black vinifera grape, grown in California.

Vitality, animation, or zest.

A female member of the Roma, a traditionally nomadic ethnic group.

A quick, witty, or pointed remark or retort.

Full of zing; lively; zesty; exciting.

Belonging to the Zingiberaceae, the ginger family of plants.

A steel-gray mineral with metallic luster, lead antimony sulfide, Pb6Sb14S27.

Any of several composite plants of the genus Zinnia, native to Mexico and adjacent areas, having variously colored, many-rayed flower heads.

Fasten with a zipper.

A device used for fastening clothing consisting of two toothed tracks or spiral metal or plastic coils and a piece that either interlocks or separates them when pulled.

Bright, fresh, or lively.

A white crystalline powder, C6H12N2S4Zn, almost insoluble in water, soluble in acetone and chloroform: used as a fungicide and rubber accelerator.

A common mineral, zirconium silicate, ZrSiO4, occurring in small tetragonal crystals or grains of various colors: used as a refractory when opaque and as a gem when transparent.

A metallic element found combined in zircon, baddeleyite, etc., resembling titanium chemically.

A pimple on the skin.

Pasta in the form of tubes resembling large macaroni.

A musical instrument, consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings stretched over it, that is placed on a horizontal surface and played with a plectrum and the fingertips.

The fringes or tassels formerly worn at the corners of the outer garment and now worn at the four corners of the tallith and the arba kanfoth.

A nickel coin and monetary unit of Poland, equal to 100 groszy.

A mental disorder in which one believes oneself to be an animal.

A collection of distinct, individual zooids that make up a compound or colonial organism.

A public square or plaza, especially in the center of a city or town.

An imaginary belt of the heavens, extending about 8° on each side of the ecliptic, within which are the apparent paths of the sun, moon, and principal planets.

Any of the free-swimming larva of certain crustaceans, as the crab, having rudimentary legs and a spiny carapace.

A device for giving an illusion of motion, consisting of a slitted drum that, when whirled, shows a succession of images placed opposite the slits within the drum as one moving image.

An orthorhombic dimorph of clinozoisite.

A sedative hypnotic drug, (C19H21N3O)2·C4H6O6, closely related in effect to the benzodiazepines, used in the treatment of insomnia.

The body of a dead person given the semblance of life, but mute and will-less, by a supernatural force, usually for some evil purpose.

To turn (someone) into a zombie.

Of or relating to a zone or zones.

Marked with zones, as of color, texture, or the like.

The state or condition of being zonate.

Any continuous area that differs in some respect, or is distinguished for some purpose, from adjoining areas, or within which certain distinctive circumstances exist or are established.

A body segment of a diplopod.

To become unconscious from alcohol or narcotic drugs; pass out.

A little zone, belt, band, or the like.

A parklike area in which live animals are kept in cages or large enclosures for public exhibition.

A plant whose structure adapts it for dispersion by animals.

Any organic body or cell capable of spontaneous movement and of an existence more or less apart from or independent of the parent organism.

To move quickly or suddenly with a loud humming or buzzing sound.

Any of the individuals of a compound organism.

A motile gamete.

Produced or caused by animals.

The branch of zoology dealing with the description of animals.

The science or branch of biology dealing with animals.

The anatomy, especially the comparative anatomy, of animals.

A jellylike mass of microorganisms.

A person who feeds and tends animals in a zoo.

The worship of or excessive attention to animals.

Measurement of the proportionate lengths or sizes of the parts of animals.

Of or relating to a deity or other being conceived of as having the form of an animal.

Any disease of animals communicable to humans.

An abnormal fondness or preference for animals.

An irrational or disproportionate fear of animals.

Any of various invertebrate animals resembling a plant, as a coral or a sea anemone.

Plankton consisting of small animals and the immature stages of larger animals.

The transplantation of living tissue to the human body from an animal of another species.

An asexual spore produced by certain algae and some fungi, capable of moving about by means of flagella.

The breeding and domestication of animals; the technology of animal husbandry.

Any toxin of animal origin, as a snake or scorpion venom, or serum produced by means of such toxin.

Characteristic of a zoot suiter; extreme or flamboyant in style or appearance.

A frieze having representations of people or animals.

A weasellike African animal, Ictonyx striatus, resembling a skunk in coloration and habits.

Shingles

A style of dance music that originated in Guadeloupe and Martinique, featuring Caribbean rhythms over a disco beat and played with electric guitars and synthesizers.

Expressing surprise or indignation.

(Used to express keen pleasure, astonishment, approval, etc.)

Any of several low-growing grasses of the genus Zoysia, especially Z. matrella, native to tropical Asia and widely used for lawns.

A variety of summer squash that is shaped like a cucumber and that has a smooth, dark-green skin.

A situation in which a player is limited to moves that cost pieces or have a damaging positional effect.

A soup or chowder.

An ancient Hebrew silver coin, the fourth part of a silver shekel.

A small, round skullcap worn by Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, a priest's being black, a bishop's violet, a cardinal's red, and the pope's white; calotte.

A special egg bread made into rusks.

A molecule, especially an amino acid, containing a positively charged ion at one end and a negatively charged ion at the other.

A blues-influenced type of Cajun dance music popular in Louisiana and Texas, and usually played on accordion, guitar, and violin.

an instrument for measuring the degree of fermentation.

Belonging to the Zygophyllaceae, the caltrop family of plants.

The union of two gametes; conjugation.

The cell produced by the union of two gametes, before it undergoes cleavage.

The complex of enzymes obtained from yeast, also occurring in bacteria and other organisms, that acts in alcoholic fermentation and other forms of glycolysis.

The specific principle regarded as the cause of a zymotic disease.

Any of various enzyme precursor molecules that may change into an enzyme as a result of catalytic change.

(Formerly) The science dealing with fermentation and the action of enzymes; enzymology.

An instrument for measuring the degree of fermentation.

The branch of applied chemistry dealing with fermentation, as in winemaking, brewing, the preparation of yeast, etc.

Any of various South American weevils of the genus Zyzzyva, often destructive to plants.