dumps

[ duhmps ]
See synonyms for dumps on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a depressed state of mind (usually preceded by in the): to be in the dumps over money problems.

Origin of dumps

1
1515–25; compare German dumpf dull, Middle Dutch domp haze

Words Nearby dumps

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dumps in a sentence

  • If she could laugh like that, he need not stay in the dumps.

    The Girl and The Bill | Bannister Merwin
  • If he couldn't get what he wanted at the Morrises', he went out and stole, or visited the dumps at the back of the town.

    Beautiful Joe | Marshall Saunders
  • dumps were made at frequent intervals along the front containing all the materials required for consolidation.

  • The men are splendid—their cheeriness comes up bubbling whenever the occasion calls for the dumps.

    Carry On | Coningsby Dawson
  • Again the atmosphere of dignified dumps and dingy sulkiness.

British Dictionary definitions for dumps

dumps

/ (dʌmps) /


pl n
  1. informal a state of melancholy or depression (esp in the phrase down in the dumps)

Origin of dumps

1
C16: probably from Middle Dutch domp haze, mist; see damp

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with dumps

dumps

see down in the dumps.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.