bump
Americanverb (used with object)
-
bumps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bumped,
past participle, past
-
bumping
present participle
-
to come more or less violently in contact with; collide with; strike.
His car bumped a truck.
-
to cause to strike or collide.
He bumped the car against a tree.
-
to dislodge or displace by the force of collision.
-
to dislodge by appropriating the privileges of.
The airline bumped me from the flight.
-
to demote or dismiss.
He was bumped from his job.
-
to force upward; raise.
Demand from abroad bumped the price of corn.
-
to move to a new position.
We had to bump your story to next week's paper.
-
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.
-
Poker. raise.
verb (used without object)
-
bumps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bumped,
past participle, past
-
bumping
present participle
-
to come in contact or collide with (often followed by against orinto ).
She bumped into me.
-
to bounce along; proceed in a series of jolts.
The old car bumped down the road.
-
to dance by thrusting the pelvis forward abruptly, in a provocative manner, especially to the accompaniment of an accented musical beat.
-
to boil with violent jolts caused by the sudden eruption of large bubbles through the surface.
noun
-
bumps
plural
-
the shock of a blow or collision.
-
a swelling or contusion from a blow.
-
a small area raised above the level of the surrounding surface; protuberance.
He tripped over a bump on the sidewalk.
-
Informal. a promotion or demotion; transfer to a higher or lower level.
He got a bump to vice president of the company.
-
Informal. an increase in amount, especially of salary or a wager.
He asked the boss for a ten-dollar bump.
-
Aeronautics. a rapidly rising current of air that gives an airplane a severe upward thrust.
-
a dance movement in which the pelvis is abruptly thrust forward in a provocative manner, especially to the accompaniment of an accented musical beat.
-
Mining. crump.
-
Television. bumper.
verb phrase
-
bump off to kill, especially to murder.
They bumped him off because he knew too much.
-
bump into to meet by chance.
I bumped into an old friend yesterday.
verb
-
to knock or strike with a jolt
-
to travel or proceed in jerks and jolts
-
(tr) to hurt by knocking
he bumped his head on the ceiling
-
(tr) to knock out of place; dislodge
the crash bumped him from his chair
-
(tr) to throw (a child) into the air, one other child holding each limb, and let him down again to touch the ground
-
(in rowing races, esp at Oxford and Cambridge) to catch up with and touch (another boat that started a fixed distance ahead)
-
cricket to bowl (a ball) so that it bounces high on pitching or (of a ball) to bounce high when bowled
-
(intr) to dance erotically by thrusting the pelvis forward (esp in the phrase bump and grind )
-
(tr) poker to raise (someone)
-
informal (tr) to exclude a ticket-holding passenger from a flight as a result of overbooking
-
informal (tr) to displace (someone or something) from a previously allocated position
the story was bumped from the front page
-
slang to have sexual intercourse
noun
-
an impact; knock; jolt; collision
-
a dull thud or other noise from an impact or collision
-
the shock of a blow or collision
-
a lump on the body caused by a blow
-
a protuberance, as on a road surface
-
any of the natural protuberances of the human skull, said by phrenologists to indicate underlying faculties and character
-
a rising current of air that gives an aircraft a severe upward jolt
-
(plural) the act of bumping a child. See sense 5
-
rowing the act of bumping See bumping race
-
cricket a ball that bounces into the air after being hit directly into the ground by the batsman
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bumpsimple
-
bumpssimple
-
have bumpedperfect
-
has bumpedperfect
-
am bumpingprogressive
-
are bumpingprogressive
-
is bumpingprogressive
-
have been bumpingperfect progressive
-
has been bumpingperfect progressive
Past
-
bumpedsimple
-
had bumpedperfect
-
was bumpingprogressive
-
were bumpingprogressive
-
had been bumpingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bump
First recorded in 1560–70; imitative
Explanation
A bump is an area that bulges out, like a pregnant woman's stomach. To bump someone is to knock into them. A pimple is a little bump. A camel’s hump is a larger bump. There are speed bumps sticking up in the road to keep drivers from going too fast. When you bump someone, you hit them with your whole body. If the person in front of you stops walking and you're not paying attention, you might bump right into them. Bumping often happens by accident, unless of course you are doing "the bump" (a 1970's dance).
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:
Kalshi said it didn’t see a bump in trading in the L.A. mayoral race around the time Median Strategies released its fake poll.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Eaton, a maker of circuit breakers and other electrical equipment used in data centers, is seeing a sales bump as well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
As well as raising unfounded doubts about the bump, some people criticised the star's overall look on social media, calling it "ridiculous", "tacky" and "bizarre".
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Just last week, the actress shared a mirror selfie in which she could be seen showing off her growing baby bump, pulling up her black shirt to flaunt her stomach, while grimacing at the camera.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Meanwhile, Miguel hit the bump and sent a stack of books tumbling off the cart’s slanted shelves.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
Companies like Microsoft, OpenAI and Amazon need the public’s buy-in to avoid speed bumps, maintain political support and curb blowback.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
You need to have a car that's alright over bumps, that's not trying to kill you every time.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
A mosquito researcher offers tips and tricks to avoid leaving the trail with itchy red bumps from our local bloodsuckers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The team found that graphene wrinkles behaved somewhat like rows of tiny electrical speed bumps.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
A sense pervaded the boat like a breeze that made you tingle, raising goose bumps on your skin.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
The technical foul - called when Clark ran into an official after making a pass having been bumped by a defender - would have been her eighth of the season, which triggers an automatic suspension.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
His chances of making Carolina’s 53-man roster improved greatly last month when veteran backup quarterback Will Grier announced his retirement, which bumped King up to No. 3 on the depth chart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
For example, while driving in the extremely remote northwest Australia to see an eclipse in 2019, Green said she bumped into Milligan.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
However, Merck also bumped up its full-year sales outlook as new product launches bolstered its topline in the second quarter, helping sales come in above Wall Street’s expectations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
I bumped into a man and his wife as they were passing on the other side of us and nearly fell to my knees.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Rachel Heath said the train was "bumping up and down and then jostling from side to side like a seesaw", with everyone around her screaming.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The newfound attention was prompted by a fan bumping into him at a L.A. grocery store and sharing a selfie with the actor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
If it’s 6%, then it’s a no-brainer to say you should consider at least bumping up your contributions by 1 percentage point so that you don’t leave free money on the table.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, recalled bumping into Duffy last year and remarking that his skin was glowing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Suddenly, the canoes were flying down the river, bouncing and bumping over very rough water, and in the distance the sound of a roar grew louder and more thunderous.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
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.
