bump
Americanverb (used with object)
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bumps,
present (3rd person singular)
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bumped,
past participle, past
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bumping
present participle
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to come more or less violently in contact with; collide with; strike.
His car bumped a truck.
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to cause to strike or collide.
He bumped the car against a tree.
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to dislodge or displace by the force of collision.
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to dislodge by appropriating the privileges of.
The airline bumped me from the flight.
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to demote or dismiss.
He was bumped from his job.
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to force upward; raise.
Demand from abroad bumped the price of corn.
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to move to a new position.
We had to bump your story to next week's paper.
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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.
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Poker. raise.
verb (used without object)
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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.
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to bounce along; proceed in a series of jolts.
The old car bumped down the road.
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to dance by thrusting the pelvis forward abruptly, in a provocative manner, especially to the accompaniment of an accented musical beat.
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to boil with violent jolts caused by the sudden eruption of large bubbles through the surface.
noun
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bumps
plural
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the shock of a blow or collision.
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a swelling or contusion from a blow.
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a small area raised above the level of the surrounding surface; protuberance.
He tripped over a bump on the sidewalk.
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Informal. a promotion or demotion; transfer to a higher or lower level.
He got a bump to vice president of the company.
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Informal. an increase in amount, especially of salary or a wager.
He asked the boss for a ten-dollar bump.
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Aeronautics. a rapidly rising current of air that gives an airplane a severe upward thrust.
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a dance movement in which the pelvis is abruptly thrust forward in a provocative manner, especially to the accompaniment of an accented musical beat.
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Mining. crump.
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Television. bumper.
verb phrase
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bump off to kill, especially to murder.
They bumped him off because he knew too much.
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bump into to meet by chance.
I bumped into an old friend yesterday.
verb
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to knock or strike with a jolt
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to travel or proceed in jerks and jolts
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(tr) to hurt by knocking
he bumped his head on the ceiling
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(tr) to knock out of place; dislodge
the crash bumped him from his chair
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(tr) to throw (a child) into the air, one other child holding each limb, and let him down again to touch the ground
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(in rowing races, esp at Oxford and Cambridge) to catch up with and touch (another boat that started a fixed distance ahead)
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cricket to bowl (a ball) so that it bounces high on pitching or (of a ball) to bounce high when bowled
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(intr) to dance erotically by thrusting the pelvis forward (esp in the phrase bump and grind )
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(tr) poker to raise (someone)
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informal (tr) to exclude a ticket-holding passenger from a flight as a result of overbooking
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informal (tr) to displace (someone or something) from a previously allocated position
the story was bumped from the front page
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slang to have sexual intercourse
noun
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an impact; knock; jolt; collision
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a dull thud or other noise from an impact or collision
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the shock of a blow or collision
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a lump on the body caused by a blow
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a protuberance, as on a road surface
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any of the natural protuberances of the human skull, said by phrenologists to indicate underlying faculties and character
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a rising current of air that gives an aircraft a severe upward jolt
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(plural) the act of bumping a child. See sense 5
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rowing the act of bumping See bumping race
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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
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bumpsimple
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bumpssimple
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have bumpedperfect
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has bumpedperfect
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am bumpingprogressive
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are bumpingprogressive
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is bumpingprogressive
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have been bumpingperfect progressive
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has been bumpingperfect progressive
Past
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bumpedsimple
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had bumpedperfect
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was bumpingprogressive
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were bumpingprogressive
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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:
The banks also recognize there are risks to their businesses and to credit markets and the U.S. economy if the AI boom hits a speed bump.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Social Security recipients will get a 3.6% raise for 2027, a bigger-than-average bump as energy prices continue to fuel inflation.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
It looked like Williams wanted to do a chest bump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
The race to build smarter, faster artificial intelligence just hit a very public speed bump: OpenAI is scrapping the release of its next-generation AI model over safety concerns raised by researchers during internal testing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
There was a bump the size of an egg, but no blood.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
As a teenager, Gillian Maegan Montalbo had pimples that weren’t too bad — just a few bumps on her forehead and nose.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Mona transforms before our eyes from a diffident mother of two in an unhappy marriage into the star she always could be, though not without a few bumps in the road.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
“People love that I’m just doing it from here, doing it from home,” said Mauri, who often bumps into former high-school classmates at the gym.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
You may have waited until you turned 70 for those extra 8% annual bumps beyond FRA, or you may not.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
They all stood and looked at each other for a minute, and Natalie got goose bumps.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
A possible replacement for Aikman on “MNF” could be Greg Olsen, a one-time lead analyst at Fox before being bumped down to the network’s No. 2 team to make room for Tom Brady.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
That bumped Adelkoff’s compensation far above that of her peers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
The Department of Transportation requires airlines to compensate passengers who are bumped due to oversold flights.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Having been bashed, bumped and bruised on his way to winning Gladiators earlier this year, you might expect Josh McDonald wants to put his feet up.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Penelope stood up so fast she nearly bumped her head on the luggage rack.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
At airports where it tested out new technology and procedures this summer, involuntary bumping was eliminated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
"After having lived here my whole life, it's funny walking down the streets of Belfast and bumping into people that I know wearing my full police costume," Braniff says.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Another sign of tepid hiring: The average increase in wages was just 3% in the 12 months that ended in August, bumping along prepandemic lows.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
Burger King has reclaimed the No. 2 spot among U.S. burger chains, bumping aside Wendy’s in terms of U.S. sales over the 12 months ended June 30, company filings show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Above our heads came the sounds of thumping and bumping.
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
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