Bump Definition & Meaning

American

British

Idioms

Usage

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms bump American [buhmp] / bʌmp /

verb (used with object)

1. to come more or less violently in contact with; collide with; strike.

   His car bumped a truck.

2. to cause to strike or collide.

   He bumped the car against a tree.

3. to dislodge or displace by the force of collision.

4. to dislodge by appropriating the privileges of.

   The airline bumped me from the flight.

5. to demote or dismiss.

   He was bumped from his job.

6. to force upward; raise.

   Demand from abroad bumped the price of corn.

7. to move to a new position.

   We had to bump your story to next week's paper.

8. Digital Technology. to move (an online post or thread) to the top of the reverse chronological list by adding a new comment or post to the thread.

   I bumped the question I posted last week to make it more visible.

9. Poker. raise.

verb (used without object)

1. to come in contact or collide with (often followed by against orinto ).

   She bumped into me.

2. to bounce along; proceed in a series of jolts.

   The old car bumped down the road.

3. to dance by thrusting the pelvis forward abruptly, in a provocative manner, especially to the accompaniment of an accented musical beat.

4. to boil with violent jolts caused by the sudden eruption of large bubbles through the surface.

noun

1. an act or instance of bumping; collision; blow.

2. the shock of a blow or collision.

3. a swelling or contusion from a blow.

4. a small area raised above the level of the surrounding surface; protuberance.

   He tripped over a bump on the sidewalk.

5. Informal. a promotion or demotion; transfer to a higher or lower level.

   He got a bump to vice president of the company.

6. Informal. an increase in amount, especially of salary or a wager.

   He asked the boss for a ten-dollar bump.

7. Aeronautics. a rapidly rising current of air that gives an airplane a severe upward thrust.

8. a dance movement in which the pelvis is abruptly thrust forward in a provocative manner, especially to the accompaniment of an accented musical beat.

9. Mining. crump.

10. Television. bumper.

verb phrase

1. bump off to kill, especially to murder.

   They bumped him off because he knew too much.

2. bump into to meet by chance.

   I bumped into an old friend yesterday.

bump British / bʌmp /

verb

1. to knock or strike with a jolt

2. to travel or proceed in jerks and jolts

3. (tr) to hurt by knocking

   he bumped his head on the ceiling

4. (tr) to knock out of place; dislodge

   the crash bumped him from his chair

5. (tr) to throw (a child) into the air, one other child holding each limb, and let him down again to touch the ground

6. (in rowing races, esp at Oxford and Cambridge) to catch up with and touch (another boat that started a fixed distance ahead)

7. cricket to bowl (a ball) so that it bounces high on pitching or (of a ball) to bounce high when bowled

8. (intr) to dance erotically by thrusting the pelvis forward (esp in the phrase bump and grind )

9. (tr) poker to raise (someone)

10. informal (tr) to exclude a ticket-holding passenger from a flight as a result of overbooking

11. informal (tr) to displace (someone or something) from a previously allocated position

    the story was bumped from the front page

12. slang to have sexual intercourse

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

1. an impact; knock; jolt; collision

2. a dull thud or other noise from an impact or collision

3. the shock of a blow or collision

4. a lump on the body caused by a blow

5. a protuberance, as on a road surface

6. any of the natural protuberances of the human skull, said by phrenologists to indicate underlying faculties and character

7. a rising current of air that gives an aircraft a severe upward jolt

8. (plural) the act of bumping a child. See sense 5

9. rowing the act of bumping See bumping race

10. cricket a ball that bounces into the air after being hit directly into the ground by the batsman

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 bump Idioms

More idioms and phrases containing bump

• goose pimples (bumps)
• like a bump on a log

Usage

What else does bump mean? Bump is an online slang term for the practice of posting filler comments to move a post to the top of a discussion thread, increasing a message or thread’s status and visibility.

Other Word Forms

• bumpingly adverb
• unbumped adjective

Etymology

Origin of bump

First recorded in 1560–70; imitative

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Net income for the quarter more than doubled year-on-year to $42.96 billion, causing a share price bump that was quickly erased by apparent investor profit taking.

From Barron's

I love that our generation is bumping back the time in which it’s acceptable to get married and have children.

From Los Angeles Times

It bounces that light off mirrors so smooth, that if you scaled them up to the size of the U.S. their largest bump wouldn’t be much thicker than a human hair.

From The Wall Street Journal

It was monstrously tall and covered with endless bumps and bulges from top to bottom.

From Literature

My teeth were chattering and I had goose bumps all over me.

From Literature

Related Words

• bang
• bounce
• crash
• jerk
• knock
• punch
• rattle
• shake
• slam
• slap
• smack
• thump
• whack

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.