jump-start
Americannoun
-
jump-starts
plural
verb (used with object)
-
jump-starts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
jump-started,
past participle, past
-
jump-starting
present participle
-
to give a jump-start to.
to jump-start an engine.
-
to enliven or revive.
to jump-start a sluggish economy.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
jump-startsimple
-
jump-startssimple
-
have jump-startedperfect
-
has jump-startedperfect
-
am jump-startingprogressive
-
are jump-startingprogressive
-
is jump-startingprogressive
-
have been jump-startingperfect progressive
-
has been jump-startingperfect progressive
Past
-
jump-startedsimple
-
had jump-startedperfect
-
was jump-startingprogressive
-
were jump-startingprogressive
-
had been jump-startingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jump-start
First recorded in 1975–80
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.
See Examples For:
If you’ve ever been running errands, gone to start your car, and nothing happens because the battery is dead, you know how important it is to have a set of cables to jump-start your vehicle.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
The ceasefire was supposed to jump-start negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, right?
From Slate ● Jul. 9, 2026
The Dodgers took full advantage of the Padres’ defensive mistakes to jump-start their offense.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026
The move came after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tweeted on Sunday that his company is hiring people to jump-start its robot business.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
Five days later another ranger returned to the abandoned vehicle, managed to jump-start it without difficulty, and drove it out to the National Park Service maintenance yard at Temple Bar.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
“We want to rely on natural chemicals in the soil, like from our cover crop, which jump-starts that natural nutrient capacity of the soil.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025
First is forewarning, which jump-starts the psychological immune system because it’s sleeping most of the time.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 13, 2023
She doesn’t call for warming, but I knew — and verified in testing — that it jump-starts the whole affair so effectively it’s worth incorporating into the method.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 29, 2021
The hybrid rental car’s battery died in Santiago do Cacém, and it took four hours, three jump-starts and at least two linguistically treacherous phone calls to get it up and running.
From New York Times ● Oct. 23, 2019
Perhaps Brown will try to bring in someone from a winning organization, as he did with Lewis, hoping that jump-starts ticket sales.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2019
In happier news, rising case counts have jump-started research into drugs that could treat people who do get sick, including antibody and antiviral therapies.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
It was here in Cabimas where, more than a century ago, a well-named Barroso II jump-started a boom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2026
The introduction earlier this year of Google’s Nano Banana image-making tool jump-started adoption of Gemini, boosting monthly users from 450 million in July to more than 650 million as of late October.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
But a stronger effort among policymakers to steady the economy, followed by innovation wins like DeepSeek, jump-started a powerful rebound last fall.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
The human eggs that jump-started their development were always in demand, and commanded a high price.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
Around a week later while speaking to steelworkers in Georgia, Trump praised the PC maker’s chief executive, commending Michael Dell and his wife for jump-starting the ‘Trump Accounts’ program.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
The Defense Department is pouring money into jump-starting projects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025
“If there is any money left over in the plan, the student can roll the money over to a Roth IRA, jump-starting their retirement planning.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2025
All of this raises the stakes for the chancellor's challenge of delivering both credible tax and spend plans, as well as jump-starting growth at her upcoming Budget.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2025
Like hooking up the wires for the TV or the stereo, or jump-starting a car.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
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.
