FluencyCraft

zooming

"Zooming" is the present participle of the verb "zoom." It has a few common meanings — all of them involve the idea of speed or rapid change, whether you're moving fast, growing quickly, or adjusting a camera lens. Here are the most useful senses.

1verbmoving very fast

When something or someone moves very quickly — like a car speeding past or a bird flying by in a flash — you can say it is zooming. Think of the sound a fast object makes: 'zoom!' That sound is where the word comes from.

everyday language · Modern, widely used

The sports car zoomed past us on the highway.

The children were zooming around the playground on their bikes.

A fighter jet zoomed across the sky.

2verbfigurativerising or increasing rapidly

When a number, price, or level goes up very quickly, you can say it is zooming. It gives the feeling of something shooting upward at great speed.

business, news, everyday language · Modern, widely used · figurative

House prices have been zooming up in the city this year.

The company's profits zoomed after they launched their new product.

Her popularity zoomed when her video went viral.

3verbadjusting a camera lens to make something appear closer or farther

On a camera or phone, when you 'zoom in' you make the image look bigger and closer. When you 'zoom out,' you make it look smaller and show more of the scene. This is a very common use in photography and video.

photography, technology · Modern, widely used

She zoomed in on the bird to get a better photo.

The cameraman zoomed out to show the whole stadium.

You can zoom in on the map to see the street names more clearly.

4verbfigurativehaving a video call (informal)

Because the video-calling app Zoom became so popular, many people now use 'zooming' informally to mean having a video call — even if they are not using the Zoom app specifically. This is a very modern, informal use.

everyday language, technology, business · Modern, post-2020 · figurative

We've been zooming with our family every Sunday since they moved abroad.

My team is zooming tomorrow morning for our weekly meeting.

Instead of meeting in person, we decided to just zoom.

Content generated by AI — may contain inaccuracies