bump
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /bʌmp/
ipa: [bɐm̥p]
ipa: /bʌmp/
ipa: [bʌm̥p]
ipa: [bɐm̥p]
rhymes: -ʌmp
Forms: form: bumps
form: bumping
form: bumped
form: bumped
Etymology: From Early Modern English bump (“a shock, blow from a collision”), probably of North Germanic origin; compare Danish bump (“a thump”), Danish bumpe (“to thump”), Old Danish bumpe (“to strike with a clenched fist”), all probably of imitative origin.
Apparently related to Middle English bumben, bummen (“to make a hollow noise”), Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”), German Low German bumsen (“to bump, push”), German bummen (“to hum, buzz”), Icelandic bumba (“drum”). More at bum, bumble. Compare also bomb.
Senses: examples: text: Their car got bumped while they were turning at the junction.
glosses: To knock against or run into with a jolt.
examples: text: I bumped the font size up to make my document easier to read.
glosses: To move up or down by a step; displace.
examples: text: As in [the online forum] carersvoicesnz, certain contributors were more visible, taking the initiative to "bump" the thread to bring it back into view if it went quiet.
ref: 2015, Barbara Horrell, Christine Stephens, Mary Breheny, “Online Research with Informal Caregivers: Opportunities and Challenges”, in Qualitative Research in Psychology, volume 12, number 3, →DOI, page 264:
glosses: To post in an Internet forum thread in order to raise the thread's profile by returning it to the top of the list of active threads.
examples: text: Heat until the liquid bumps, then reduce the heat and continue the boiling for 1½ hours.
ref: 1916, Albert Prescott Mathews, Physiological chemistry:
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: To suddenly boil, causing movement of the vessel and loss of liquid.
raw_tags: of a superheated liquid
examples: text: Easyjet said the compensation package for passengers bumped off flights was 'probably the most flawed piece of European legislation in recent years' […]
ref: 2005, Lois Jones, EasyJet: the story of Britain's biggest low-cost airline, page 192:
glosses: To move (a booked passenger) to a later flight because of earlier delays or cancellations.
examples: text: A colleague emails with news that her 4:30 meeting got bumped to 3:30.
ref: 2010, Nancy Conner, Matthew MacDonald, Office 2010: The Missing Manual, page 332:
glosses: To move the time of (a scheduled event).
glosses: To pick (a lock) with a repeated striking motion that dislodges the pins.
examples: text: as a bittern bumps within a reed
ref: 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Wife of Bathe’s Tale. As it was Written by Geffrey Chaucer”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
glosses: To make a loud, heavy, or hollow noise; to boom.
topics: media
printing
publishing
glosses: To spread out material so as to fill any desired number of pages.
examples: text: You know about the night the kid bumped Brody?
ref: 1944, William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman, The Big Sleep (screenplay)
glosses: To assassinate; to bump off.
examples: text: Employees with 2 years or more, and less than 8 years plant seniority, may bump a probationary employee.
ref: 1969, Major Collective Bargaining Agreements, volume 9:
qualifier: industrial relations
glosses: To displace (another employee in an organization) on the basis of seniority.
examples: text: After his ancestors had been browbeaten by the Puritans, and his ancestors had been driven out by the early pioneers [...], if he learned that a magnificent bronze statue is to be erected to his ancestors; wouldn't it bump an Indian?
ref: 1911 September 25, “Wouldn't It Make You Mad”, in San Francisco Examiner:
glosses: To anger, irritate.
topics: card-games
games
glosses: In the game of khanhoo, to claim a newly discarded card when it is not one's turn, permitted when one can use the card to form a meld other than a sequence.
glosses: To play music through a speaker, often loudly and in public.
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: To encounter and stop, to catch.
examples: text: The car bumped over the dirt road.
glosses: To move while bumping up and down, as a cart or car does on rough ground.
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bumpable
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump across
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump and grind
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump and run
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bumpee
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump elbows
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bumper
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump into
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump key
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump nasties
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump off
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump on
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump purses
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump uglies
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: bump up
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: chest-bump
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: fist bump
sense: Terms derived from bump (verb)
word: rebump