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bump

[buhmp]
See more synonyms for bump on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to come more or less violently in contact with; collide with; strike: His car bumped a truck.
  2. to cause to strike or collide: He bumped the car against a tree.
  3. to dislodge or displace by the force of collision.
  4. to dislodge by appropriating the privileges of: The airline bumped me from the flight.
  5. to demote or dismiss: He was bumped from his job.
  6. to force upward; raise: Demand from abroad bumped the price of corn.
  7. to move to a new position: We had to bump your story to next week's paper.
  8. 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.
  9. Poker. raise(def 24).
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verb (used without object)
  1. to come in contact or collide with (often followed by against or into): She bumped into me.
  2. to bounce along; proceed in a series of jolts: The old car bumped down the road.
  3. to dance by thrusting the pelvis forward abruptly, in a provocative manner, especially to the accompaniment of an accented musical beat.Compare grind(def 14).
  4. to boil with violent jolts caused by the sudden eruption of large bubbles through the surface.
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noun
  1. an act or instance of bumping; collision; blow.
  2. the shock of a blow or collision.
  3. a swelling or contusion from a blow.
  4. a small area raised above the level of the surrounding surface; protuberance: He tripped over a bump on the sidewalk.
  5. Informal. a promotion or demotion; transfer to a higher or lower level: He got a bump to vice president of the company.
  6. Informal. an increase in amount, especially of salary or a wager: He asked the boss for a ten-dollar bump.
  7. Aeronautics. a rapidly rising current of air that gives an airplane a severe upward thrust.
  8. a dance movement in which the pelvis is abruptly thrust forward in a provocative manner, especially to the accompaniment of an accented musical beat.Compare grind(def 20).
  9. Mining. crump(def 6).
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Verb Phrases
  1. bump into, Informal. to meet by chance: I bumped into an old friend yesterday.
  2. bump off, Slang. to kill, especially to murder: They bumped him off because he knew too much.
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Origin of bump

First recorded in 1560–70; imitative
Related formsbump·ing·ly, adverbun·bumped, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bumping

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Bumping along the trail into Datura, Aaron Stoltzfoos studied the land.

    Blind Man's Lantern

    Allen Kim Lang

  • "Bumping at Oxford," to use an aquatic term, why it was nothing!

  • I may at this point give a word of advice to a coxswain in a Bumping Race.

    Rowing

    Rudolf Chambers Lehmann

  • Bumping their nose into a tied lion that way—how'd they know?

  • Bumping him into the wall he bore down upon him growling in a voice obviously assumed and grossly piratical: "Sit there!"

    Ann Arbor Tales

    Karl Edwin Harriman

British Dictionary definitions for bumping

bump

verb
  1. (when intr , usually foll by against or into) to knock or strike with a jolt
  2. (intr often foll by along) to travel or proceed in jerks and jolts
  3. (tr) to hurt by knockinghe bumped his head on the ceiling
  4. (tr) to knock out of place; dislodgethe crash bumped him from his chair
  5. (tr) British to throw (a child) into the air, one other child holding each limb, and let him down again to touch the ground
  6. (in rowing races, esp at Oxford and Cambridge) to catch up with and touch (another boat that started a fixed distance ahead)
  7. cricket to bowl (a ball) so that it bounces high on pitching or (of a ball) to bounce high when bowled
  8. (intr) mainly US and Canadian to dance erotically by thrusting the pelvis forward (esp in the phrase bump and grind)
  9. (tr) poker to raise (someone)
  10. (tr) informal to exclude a ticket-holding passenger from a flight as a result of overbooking
  11. (tr) informal to displace (someone or something) from a previously allocated positionthe story was bumped from the front page
  12. bump uglies US slang to have sexual intercourse
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noun
  1. an impact; knock; jolt; collision
  2. a dull thud or other noise from an impact or collision
  3. the shock of a blow or collision
  4. a lump on the body caused by a blow
  5. a protuberance, as on a road surface
  6. any of the natural protuberances of the human skull, said by phrenologists to indicate underlying faculties and character
  7. a rising current of air that gives an aircraft a severe upward jolt
  8. (plural) the act of bumping a child. See sense 5
  9. rowing the act of bumpingSee bumping race
  10. bump ball cricket a ball that bounces into the air after being hit directly into the ground by the batsman
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See also bump into, bump off, bump up

Word Origin

C16: probably of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bumping

bump

n.

1590s, "protuberance caused by a blow;" 1610s as "a dull, solid blow;" see bump (v.). The dancer's bump and grind attested from 1940.

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bump

v.

1560s, "to bulge out;" 1610s, "to strike heavily," perhaps from Scandinavian, probably echoic, original sense was "hitting" then of "swelling from being hit." Also has a long association with obsolete bum "to make a booming noise," which perhaps influenced surviving senses such as bumper crop, for something full to the brim (see bumper). To bump into "meet" is from 1880s; to bump off "kill" is 1908 in underworld slang. Related: Bumped; bumping. Bumpsy (adj.) was old slang for "drunk" (1610s).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with bumping

bump

In addition to the idioms beginning with bump

  • bump into
  • bump off
  • bump up

also see:

  • goose pimples (bumps)
  • like a bump on a log
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.