Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. of a vehicle or driver, or an object, to move fast; also as excl.

1852		Knickerbocker (N.Y.) XL 182: How we did ‘z-i-p!’ Seven miles, at one time, in less than seven minutes [DA].
[1887		E. Custer Tenting on the Plains (rev. edn 1895) 349: The whizz and zip of the bullet seemed to be only a few inches from my ear].
1890		Dly Gaz. for Middlesborouih 1 Oct. 4/2: It was pretty dark — zip! along comes your train.
1902		Ade Forty Modern Fables 115: Something would zip up the Street in a Cloud of Dust.
1912		Ade Knocking the Neighbors 20: One morning a Train zipped through the Cut and pulled up at the New Station.
1920		Ade Hand-made Fables 183: A huge Motor Car of next year’s Design goes zipping by.
1923		O.O. McIntyre New York Day by Day 31 May [synd. col.] Benny Leonard zips by in a salmon pink car.
1935		J. Conroy World to Win 320: The speedier tourists zipped by them as the Ford labored along.
1942		Whizzbang Comics 24: The next moment enemy bullets came zipping in through the slit windows.
1957		Kerouac On The Road (1972) 18: A few cars zipped by.
1963		H.S. Thompson letter 18 Nov. in Proud Highway (1997) 413: I’ll zip over to that place above San Francisco.
1978		L. Kramer Faggots 282: Boo Boo Bronstein, who’d zipped to Fire Island drugged out in his Porsche.
1989		(con. 1982–6) T. Williams Cocaine Kids (1990) 115: I would call Jeff, the driver, and he would zip me down there.
1996		P. Temple Bad Debts (2012) [ebook] They zipped out, forced their way into the traffic and sat about five cars behind me.
1999		Indep. Mag. 12 June 21: Mountain-bikers and roller-bladers zipping down the cycle path from Santa Monica pier.
2007		N. McCall Them (2008) 10: They got his car from the compound and zipped to Nell’s condo.

2. of a person, to run around energetically, to be highly energetic; to do something energetically.

1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 221: Pianists, harpists and fiddlers zipping away.
1902		Ade Girl Proposition 6: She zipped past him on a Trolley.
1937		J.M. Cain Serenade (1985) 275: I zipped right out to a taxi.
1943		H.A. Smith Life in a Putty Knife Factory (1948) 89: One of the Buttolph men would get the ball and [...] go zipping off through the opposing team.
1955		‘Blackie’ Audett Rap Sheet 169: There was bank robbers zipping this way and that so fast you practically needed a programme.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 125: The broad zipped out of there in less than three minutes.
1977		J. Sayles Union Dues (1978) 333: He hit a gear they didn’t have and zipped on away from them.
1984		Flame : a Life on the Game 131: I brought some money into the house by zipping off to do punters in London.
1999		Guardian Media 21 June 2: Benson zipped to the hotel.

3. (US) to dispatch something at speed.

1916		O.O. McIntyre New York Day By Day 27 Apr. [synd. col.] Almost any scenario editor would have taken one look at [Shakespeare’s] manuscript and zipped it back by next mail.
1972		R. Kahn Boys of Summer 22: ‘Let's catch. You've got a hitch in your throw I want to work on. [...] Reach back; reach. You want to zip it’.
2024		D. Rucker Life’s Too Short 39: [A] star quarterback, zipping passes to my wide receivers.

4. of a situation, e.g. a stage performance, to move fast.

1929		S. Ornitz Haunch Paunch and Jowl 114: I try to heed Al Wolff’s injunction to zip it up.
1946		B. Cerf Anything For a Laugh 89: The leading lady, a pip, who used to zip and strip.
1988		D. Woodrell Muscle for the Wing 145: The day had zipped by Shade.
1999		Guardian 31 May 16: A compulsive final half hour which zips along with [...] aching suspense and two unexpected plot twists.