1. To create a compressed archive (a "Zip file") from one or more files using PKWare' s PKZIP or a compatible archiver. Its use is spreading from MS-DOS now that portable implementations of the algorithm have been written. Zip is also the name of a Unix archiving utility compatible with PKZIP. unZip is the corresponding de-archiver. See also gZip, tar and feather. 2. Zip Drive. [Jargon File] (1996-08-26)