Zombie
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈzɒmbi/
Origin
From a language. Compare Kikongo zumbi ("fetish"), Kimbundu nzambi (god), and Caribbean folklore's jumbee (a spirit or demon). May also be related to sombra.
Full definition of zombie
Noun
zombie
(plural zombies)- A snake god or fetish in religions of West Africa and elsewhere.
- (voodoo, superstition) A person, usually undead, animated by unnatural forces (such as magic), with no soul or will of his/her own.
- (fiction) A deceased person who becomes reanimate to attack the living.I shot a zombie. He was a zombie, Kenneth. The pilot was bitten before he picked us up!
- (figuratively) An apathetic person.
- (figuratively) A human being in a state of extreme mental exhaustion.After working for 18 hours on the computer, I was a zombie.
- An information worker who has signed a nondisclosure agreement.EE Times, "Beware 'zombie' clauses," 2 Aug., 2004
- (computing) A process or task which has terminated but was not removed from the list of processes, typically because it has child processes that have not yet terminated.
- (computing) A computer affected by malware which causes it to do whatever the attacker wants it to do without the user's knowledge.
- A cocktail of rum and fruit juices.
- 1976, The Harvard Advocate CX:ii, pages 8 and 380:The maitre d’ introduced us and I had a zombie with him. Those zombies are wicked....I watched Mario and drank zombies out of a thermos.
- (Canada, historical, derogatory) A conscripted member of the Canadian military during World War II who was assigned to home defence rather than to combat in Europe.The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, Hurtig Publishers, Edmonton Canada, 1988. See "National Resources Mobilization Act," p. 1433.
- 1944, "Time for Decision," Time (US edition), 6 Nov.,Had the time come to order Canada's home defense draftees—some 70,000 zombies idling at home—to battle overseas?
- (philosophy) A hypothetical person who lacks self awareness.
Synonyms
- (person that is undead) living dead, ghoul, walking dead
- (information worker) intellectual prostitute