as in to veer
to depart abruptly from a straight line or course
the crowd roared as the clown on the bicycle zagged while the other clowns, in hot pursuit, zigged
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of zag
Growing up in Santa Monica, Ren initially resisted the nearby industry and decided to zag, finding early success as a teenager on social media, specifically the 2012-era of microblog Tumblr.
—
Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 June 2024
Lane Kiffin zigs when others zag, and the Ole Miss football coach got awfully ziggy with it Saturday.
—Blake Toppmeyer, The Tennessean, 18 Apr. 2024
Jones gradually ratchets up power, adding jolting brass and a string section that zigs and zags dramatically.
—Elias Leight, Billboard, 4 Nov. 2024
Plus, the Heat typically will zig while other teams will zag.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 14 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for zag 
Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 June 2024
Lane Kiffin zigs when others zag, and the Ole Miss football coach got awfully ziggy with it Saturday.
—Blake Toppmeyer, The Tennessean, 18 Apr. 2024
Jones gradually ratchets up power, adding jolting brass and a string section that zigs and zags dramatically.
—Elias Leight, Billboard, 4 Nov. 2024
Plus, the Heat typically will zig while other teams will zag.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 14 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for zag
Recent Examples of Synonyms for zag
Verb
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One jet veered off the runway and collided with the Gulfstream 200 jet that was parked, according to Kuester.—
Hallie Golden,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Feb. 2025
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The Nissan also veered into the grassy area, went through a wooded area, reentered the right shoulder, crossed all lanes of travel including the HOV lane, collided with the center median concrete barrier and came to a stop, the warrant affidavit said.—
Staff report,
Hartford Courant,
8 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In other words, a function can only zig and zag so much.—
Solomon Adams,
Quanta Magazine,
23 Jan. 2025
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More importantly, Honor continues to zig when other Android phones zag, giving us a device that stands out from the crowd a bit.—
Ben Sin,
Forbes,
17 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The river eventually curves and disappears into the distance.—
David Caraccio,
Sacramento Bee,
15 Feb. 2025
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The long hood curves back to a glass bubble that mimics a fighter jet cockpit.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
6 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Flaco escaped from the Central Park Zoo when an unknown vandal cut open the mesh of his enclosure.—
Kaitlyn Tiffany,
The Atlantic,
15 Feb. 2025
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In late 2022 and early 2023, which saw hundreds of thousands of tech jobs cut, the hiring rate bounced between 3.8% and 4.1%.—
Bailey Schulz,
USA TODAY,
15 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near zag
Cite this Entry
“Zag.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/zag. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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