zoom

Everyday

1. To zoom is to move very fast, often with a buzzing or roaring sound. tree →
2. To zoom in is to make a picture look bigger and closer, on a camera, phone or screen; to zoom out is to make it look smaller and farther away. tree →
3. To zoom (up) is to rise very quickly, like prices or numbers. tree →
4. Zoom is also the name of a video-call app. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life and stories it shows great speed: cars, bikes, rockets, children zoom past. In computing and science (microscopes, maps, cameras) «zoom in» and «zoom out» change how big things look on the screen. In news and maths talk, numbers «zoom up» when they grow fast.

Examples

• A sports car zoomed past our house. tree →
• Zoom in on the map to see our street. tree →
• Zoom out so we can see the whole country. tree →
• The kids zoomed around the playground on their scooters. tree →
• The rocket zoomed up into the sky. tree →
• The photographer used a zoom lens to snap the bird. tree →
• We had a class call on Zoom when school was closed. tree →

Note

Regular verb: zoomed, zooming. Zooming in on a picture makes it look bigger but does not make the real thing bigger. «Zoom» the app is a name, so it has a capital letter.