Words that start with Z

Zebras are a relative of the horse, and they live in Africa. They travel around in large groups called herds. All zebras are black and white striped.

A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship originally designed by German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. The Zeppelin design was so popular the name became used for all rigid airships. The most famous Zeppelin was the Hindenburg, which crashed spectacularly in 1937.

Zest is the outside, coloured layer of citrus fruit like lemons and oranges. It is used to add flavour to many different kinds of food. Zest is removed from citrus fruit using a special tool called a zester, or just with a regular grater.

A ziggurat is a stepped pyramid. They were mostly built as temples in what is now Iran and Iraq. The picture is of a modern ziggurat.

Zinc is a hard, brittle metal. It is most commonly used mixed with other metals to make alloys like brass, and as a coating on other metals to stop them rusting. Zinc stops other metals rusting because when it is attached to another metal it will rust before that other metal does. The other metal will then start to rust when all the zinc is gone. Metal that is coated with zinc is called galvanized. If you look closely at galvanised metal you can see the zinc crystals.