bumper
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbʌmpə/
ipa: /ˈbʌmpəɹ/
rhymes: -ʌmpə(ɹ)
Forms: form: bumpers
Etymology: From bump + -er.
Senses: glosses: Someone or something that bumps.
examples: text: [T]hey now shook hands heartily, and drank bumpers of strong beer to healths which we think proper to bury in oblivion.
ref: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
text: Pork ſucceeds to Beef, Pies to Puddings: The Cloth is remov'd, Madam, drench'd vvith a Bumper, drops a Courtſey, and departs; […]
ref: 1756 February 3 (first performance), Samuel Foote, The Englishman Return’d from Paris, Being the Sequel to The Englishman in Paris. A Farce […], London: […] Paul Vaillant, […], published 1756, →OCLC, Act I, page 27:
text: Yet can I gulp a bumper to thy name,— / O smile among the shades, for this is fame!
ref: 1818, John Keats, Written in the cottage where Burns was born:
text: Mr. Horrocks served myself and my pupils with three little glasses of wine, and a bumper was poured out for my lady.
ref: 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 8, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
text: Sydney Carton drank the punch at a great rate; drank it by bumpers, looking at his friend.
ref: 1859, Charles Dickens, chapter XI, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:
text: Pour, oh, pour the pirate sherry; / Fill, O fill the pirate glass; / And, to make us more than merry, / Let the pirate bumper pass.
ref: 1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, The Pirates of Penzance […], Philadelphia: J.M. Stoddart & Co., published 1880, →OCLC:
glosses: A drinking vessel filled to the brim.
glosses: Anything large or successful.
topics: automotive
transport
vehicles
glosses: Parts at the front and back of a vehicle which are meant to absorb the impact of a collision; fender.
examples: text: The company sells screw-on rubber bumpers and feet.
glosses: Any mechanical device used to absorb an impact, soften a collision, or protect against impact.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A bouncer.
topics: ball-games
billiards
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A side wall of a pool table.
glosses: A cylindrical object used (as a substitute for birds) to train dogs to retrieve.
topics: broadcasting
media
glosses: A short ditty or jingle used to separate a show from the advertisements.
glosses: A covered house at a theatre, etc., in honour of some favourite performer.
glosses: A woman's posterior, particularly one that is considered full and desirable.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: An extra musician (not notated in the score) who assists the principal French horn by playing less-exposed passages, so that the principal can save their 'lip' for difficult solos. Also applied to other sections of the orchestra.
qualifier: pinball
glosses: An object on a playfield that applies force to the pinball when hit, often giving a minor increase in score.
glosses: A cigarette butt.
topics: hobbies
horse-racing
horseracing
horses
lifestyle
pets
racing
sports
glosses: In National Hunt racing, a flat race for horses that have not yet competed either in flat racing or over obstacles.
topics: video-games
glosses: A shoulder button on a gamepad.
topics: bowling
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Synonym of gutter guard (“rail to prevent a ball from rolling into the gutter”).
synonyms: word: gutter guard
extra: rail to prevent a ball from rolling into the gutter
Derived terms: bumper bar
bumper bullet
bumper car
bumper crop
bumperette
bumperfish
bumper jack
bumper music
bumper pool
bumper-sticker
bumper sticker
bumper to bumper
bumper-to-bumper
donut bumper
doughnut bumper
front bumper
meteor bumper
ride one's bumper
rubber baby buggy bumper
taco bumper