Definition of "zombie" [zombie]

• A snake god of voodoo cults in West Africa, Haiti, and the southern United States. (noun)
• A supernatural power or spell that according to voodoo belief can enter into and reanimate a corpse. (noun)
• A corpse revived in this way. (noun)
• One who looks or behaves like an automaton. (noun)
• A tall mixed drink made of various rums, liqueur, and fruit juice. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The term zombie company is a throwback to the 1990s when the Japan's asset bubble burst and large corporations avoided bankruptcy by being kept alive with loans from banks that also held their stock."
• "Stuart Gordon says the term zombie originates from the African Congo word zumbi, which means 'enslaved spirit.'"
• "So when I use the term zombie I am not referring to a specific bank today, but rather the effect this legislation has."