noun
zombie
ZOM-bee
noun
1
In folklore and fiction, a reanimated corpse controlled by magic or driven by a mindless urge to attack the living.
"In the film, the survivors barricade themselves in a mall to escape the zombies."
"The game lets you fight off waves of zombies with makeshift weapons."
2
A person who seems dazed, slow, or lifeless, especially from exhaustion.
"After the night shift I was basically a zombie until noon."
3
A computer secretly infected with malware and remotely controlled by an attacker, usually as part of a larger network.
"The infected zombie machines were used to flood the site with fake traffic."
How to Use Zombie
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA reanimated corpse in horror fiction, or, more loosely, someone completely worn out or a hacked computer under remote control.
Common pairings
zombie apocalypse
zombie movie
zombie computer
Word Forms
zombies plural
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Etymology
Traced through Haitian Creole zonbi and French zombi back to a Bantu language, related to Kongo nzambi ("god") and Kimbundu nzumbi ("ghost") — echoed in Caribbean folklore's "jumbie," a wandering spirit.