bumper

¹

[buhm-per]

noun

1. a person or thing that bumps.

2. a metal guard, usually horizontal, for protecting the front or rear of an automobile, truck, etc.

3. any protective rim, guard, pad, or disk for absorbing shock and preventing damage from bumping as a rubber-tipped doorstop or an old tire on the side of a boat.

4. a cup or glass filled to the brim, as with beer.

5. Informal.,  something unusually large.

6. a person who molds bricks by hand.

7. Foundry.,  a machine for ramming sand into a mold.

8. a carangid fish, Chlorosombrus chrysurus, of southern U.S. and Cuban coastal seas.

9. Television.

   1. Also called bumper tease. Also bump in a news program, a brief teaser coming at the end of a segment just before commercials, announcing or previewing a forthcoming story.

   2. Also called commercial bumper,. Also called break bumper. a brief interval of music, graphics, or voiceover serving as a transition between program and advertising content.

adjective

1. unusually abundant.

   Bumper crops reaped a big profit for local farmers.

verb (used with object)

1. to fill to the brim.

bumper

²

[buhm-per]

noun

Australian Slang.

1. the unconsumed end of a cigarette; cigarette butt.

bumper

¹

/ ˈbʌmpə /

noun

1. a glass, tankard, etc, filled to the brim, esp as a toast

2. an unusually large or fine example of something

adjective

1. unusually large, fine, or abundant

   a bumper crop

verb

1. (tr) to toast with a bumper

2. (tr) to fill to the brim

3. (intr) to drink bumpers

bumper

²

/ ˈbʌmpə /

noun

1. a horizontal metal bar attached to the front or rear end of a car, lorry, etc, to protect against damage from impact

2. a person or machine that bumps

3. cricket a ball bowled so that it bounces high on pitching; bouncer

bumper

³

/ ˈbʌmpə /

noun

1. old-fashioned,  a cigarette end

Word History and Origins

Origin of bumper¹

First recorded in 1750–60; bump + -er ¹

Origin of bumper²

First recorded in 1890–95; expressive coinage, perhaps blend of butt ¹ and stump + -er ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of bumper¹

C17 (in the sense: a brimming glass): probably from bump (obsolete vb) to bulge; see _bump

Origin of bumper²

C19: perhaps from a blend of _butt ¹ and _stump

Example Sentences

As U.S. farmers harvest a bumper soybean crop, Chinese buyers have disappeared; a bailout is expected.

Read more on Barron's

Keep everything from the road-scanning camera on the front bumper—which allows the adaptive suspension dampers to respond to the road predictively—to the hidden hatch button in the rear wiper.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

American soybean farmers are in panic mode as they harvest what is expected to be a bumper crop without their biggest customer: China.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Why is it a bumper year for acorns?

Read more on BBC

The bumper financial figures fly in the face of grumblings over the current economic backdrop, tough business environment, and household cutbacks on the types of big, one-off purchases Roberts' firm sells.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• ample 
• bountiful 
• fertile 
• generous 
• productive 
• prolific 
• sufficient 
• unlimited