bump
/bʌmp/ noun, verb, interjection, proper noun
Forms bumps bumping bumped
- noun (countable) A light blow or jolting collision. “His car had a tiny bump with a moving bus.”
- noun (countable) The sound of such a collision. “He heard a loud bump and saw the front part of his car was broken and the driver of the other car was running to apologise.”
- noun (countable, by extension, informal) Any light sound. “He heard bumps in the night.”
- noun (countable) A fist bump. “I held my fist up, and he gave me a bump before leaving.”
- noun (countable) A car accident, usually a small one. “I had a bump last time I drove into the city.”
- noun (countable, professional wrestling) A collision, especially a fall. “Did you see the bump he took last night?”
- noun (slang, figurative) A dose of a drug, such as ketamine or cocaine, snorted; a small dose of a snorted drug.
- noun (countable, informal) A conflict.
- verb To knock against or run into with a jolt. “Their car got bumped while they were turning at the junction.”
- verb To move up or down by a step; displace. “I bumped the font size up to make my document easier to read.”
- verb (Internet) 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.
- verb (physical chemistry, of a superheated liquid) To suddenly boil, causing movement of the vessel and loss of liquid.
- verb (transitive) To move (a booked passenger) to a later flight because of earlier delays or cancellations.
- verb (transitive) To move the time of (a scheduled event).
- verb (transitive) To pick (a lock) with a repeated striking motion that dislodges the pins.
- verb (transitive, programming) To increase (a version number).
- interjection (Internet) Posted 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.
- noun The breeding call made by the bittern; a boom.
- verb Of a bittern, to make its characteristic breeding call.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
baby bump bulge hump swelling gibbosity gibbousness jut prominence protuberance protrusion extrusion excrescence blow knock find happen chance encounter demote relegate break kick downstairs dislodge
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.
From Early Modern English; onomatopoeic.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To strike, as with or against anything large or solid; to thump; as, to bump the head against a wall.
- verb To come in violent contact with something; to thump. "Bumping and jumping." Southey.
- noun A thump; a heavy blow.
- noun A swelling or prominence, resulting from a bump or blow; a protuberance.
Etymology [Cf. W. pwmp round mass, pwmpiaw to thump, bang, and E. bum, v.i., boom to roar.]
Etymology [From Bump to strike, to thump.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bump”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details