Word: jump Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English jumpen (“to walk quickly, run, jump”), probably of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gumpōną ~ *gumbōną (“to hop, skip, bounce”), an iterative verb. The OED suggests an imitative origin. Related to jumble. In the sense “to propel oneself” it displaced leap partially and spring largely. Cognates Cognate with German Low German jumpen (“to jump”), archaic German gumpen (“to jump, hop, bounce”), dialectal German gampen (“to hop”), Alemannic German gumpe (“to leap, jump”), Walser dialect kumpu, Old Norse gopta (“to jump; make jump”) Danish gumpe (“to jolt”), Swedish gumpa (“to jump”), Danish gimpe (“to move up and down”), Middle English jumpren, jumbren (“to mix, jumble”). Pronunciation: /d͡ʒʌmp/, /d͡ʒʊmp/ 1. To propel oneself rapidly upward, downward and/or in any horizontal direction such that momentum causes the body to become airborne. Labels: intransitive Example: The boy jumped over a fence. Example: Kangaroos are known for their ability to jump high. 2. To cause oneself to leave an elevated location and fall downward. Labels: intransitive Example: She is going to jump from the diving board. 3. To pass by means of a spring or leap; to overleap. Labels: transitive Example: to jump a stream 4. To employ a parachute to leave an aircraft or elevated location. Labels: intransitive 5. To jerk the body involuntarily in response to a sudden or unexpected stimulus. Labels: intransitive Example: That balloon popping made me jump. Example: He jumped when he looked up to see a man standing before him. 6. To increase sharply, to rise, to shoot up. Labels: figuratively, intransitive Example: Share prices jumped by 10% after the company announced record profits. 7. To employ a move in certain board games where one game piece is moved from one legal position to another passing over the position of another piece. Labels: intransitive Example: The player's knight jumped the opponent's bishop. 8. To move to a position (in a queue/line) that is further forward. Labels: transitive Example: I hate it when people jump the queue. 9. To pass (a traffic light) when it is indicating that one should stop. Labels: transitive 10. To attack suddenly and violently. Labels: transitive Example: The hoodlum jumped a woman in the alley. 11. To engage in sexual intercourse with (a person). Labels: slang, transitive Example: Harold: How is Sarah? I don't want to jump her while she's on the rag. 12. To cause to jump. Labels: transitive Example: The rider jumped the horse over the fence. 13. To move the distance between two opposing subjects. Labels: transitive 14. To increase the height of a tower crane by inserting a section at the base of the tower and jacking up everything above it. Labels: transitive 15. To increase speed aggressively and without warning. Labels: intransitive 16. To expose to danger; to risk; to hazard. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: to jump a body with a dangerous physic 17. To join by a buttweld. Labels: transitive 18. To thicken or enlarge by endwise blows; to upset. 19. To bore with a jumper. 20. To jump-start a car or other vehicle with a dead battery, as with jumper cables. Example: [Someone] and Mr. Benfield were at the corner of Elm and Walton Streets when they were approached by Mr. Gray, who asked for help to jump his car. When informed they did not have jumper cables, Mr. Gray asked them to take him to get some. Example: […] his wife, who was at home with their children, would drive to school to jump his car; both would drive home;[…] 21. To coincide; to agree; to accord; to tally; followed by with. Labels: obsolete Example: It jumps with my humour. Example: The fortune of the dice jumpeth not commonly with the fortune of war. 22. To start executing code from a different location, rather than following the program counter. Labels: intransitive Example: When this section is completed, the code generally jumps back to the Exit Section, and the procedure is closed. 23. To flee; to make one's escape. Labels: archaic, intransitive, slang Example: “It's all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!” Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. 24. To shift one's position or attitude, especially suddenly and significantly. Labels: figuratively, intransitive Example: The administration is jumping back from that message. Example: Think hard before you jump towards a particular solution. 25. To switch locations on chromosomes. Labels: intransitive 26. To commit suicide. Labels: intransitive, slang