bump into

British  

verb

1. informal (intr, preposition) to meet by chance; encounter unexpectedly

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bump into Idioms  

1. Also, bump against . Collide, come in contact with; same as bang into . For example, It's easy to bump into furniture in the dark . [Mid-1800s]

2. Encounter, meet by chance, as in While I was downtown, I bumped into George . [ Colloquial ; 1880s] Also see run into .

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bump into

Duflock heard that the Monarch tractor “would bump into stuff, it would not stop fast enough,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

Barely a day goes by where she doesn’t bump into former co-workers from the hospital — at the grocery store or the coffee shop or school pick-up.

From Salon ● May 27, 2026

"You can come on the train at Leeds where you bump into people every second, and you get off the train here and there's nobody. There's just scenery."

From BBC ● May 1, 2026

"Our approach is like taking a wide-angle camera inside the ballroom. Now we can see how the dancers are pairing up and paying attention to one another, so they don't bump into each other."

From Science Daily ● Apr. 27, 2026

I didn’t go to the local one because I didn’t want to bump into anyone I might see on the street, in the supermarket, on the train.

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

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Related Words

• come across
• meet up with
• run into

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