jettison
Americanverb (used with object)
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jettisons,
present (3rd person singular)
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jettisoned,
past participle, past
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jettisoning
present participle
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to cast (goods) overboard in order to lighten a vessel or aircraft or to improve its stability in an emergency.
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to throw off (something) as an obstacle or burden; discard.
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Cards. to discard (an unwanted card or cards).
noun
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the act of casting goods from a vessel or aircraft to lighten or stabilize it.
verb
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to throw away; abandon
to jettison old clothes
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to throw overboard
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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jettisonsimple
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jettisonssimple
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have jettisonedperfect
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has jettisonedperfect
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am jettisoningprogressive
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are jettisoningprogressive
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is jettisoningprogressive
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have been jettisoningperfect progressive
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has been jettisoningperfect progressive
Past
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jettisonedsimple
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had jettisonedperfect
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was jettisoningprogressive
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were jettisoningprogressive
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had been jettisoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jettison
1375–1425; late Middle English jetteson < Anglo-French; Old French getaison ≪ Latin jactātiōn- (stem of jactātiō ) jactation
Explanation
Jettison means to push to the side or toss away. If a boat is leaking or an airplane is running out of fuel, you can buy more time by jettisoning cargo, or throwing it overboard. The word jettison — dating, in its nautical meaning, from the 15th century in English — is commonly used figuratively as well as literally. You can jettison a friendship or an attitude. During the month that the Winter Olympics are aired on TV, figure-skating fans across the country jettison homework and other responsibilities in order to watch.
Vocabulary lists containing jettison
This Week in Words: September 25 - October 1, 2017
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Hamilton
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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:
She instructed us to write down things we were “done with”—objects and emotions we were ready to jettison from our lives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Markets aren’t cynical enough to jettison their bets on tech, however, and continue to ride the sector’s extraordinary gains into the start of the new month.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
High-profile announcements from companies over the past few years promising to jettison the bachelor’s degree as a hiring requirement largely haven’t resulted in action.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2025
"He managed to change his voice and not jettison or sacrifice any of his Welshness. You hear the same thing in Anthony Hopkins," Mr Talfan said.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2025
To get even to the nearest star, you would need an enormous amount of fuel to jettison out the back of the rocket—a tremendous waste.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
In his directorial debut, John Travolta takes a swing so big that it knocks him off his feet and jettisons him into the air — 30,000 feet in the air, to be exact.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
The new approach jettisons everything we’ve learned over 60 years: that international development is successful when lasting partnerships are built upon a foundation of goodwill.
From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2026
Ultimately, Franco jettisons his characters for the sake of unearned plot twists that leave the viewer feeling only icky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
The Tony recognizes Groff’s empathetic portrayal of Franklin Shepard, a Juilliard-trained composer who jettisons his youthful idealism, his stage career and his co-writer to become a successful film producer.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2024
It jettisons redemption by excluding from the Redeemer all kinship with that which He came to redeem.
From Monophysitism Past and Present A Study in Christology by A. A. (Arthur Aston) Luce
These experiences came to mind while hearing Danny take on a yet-to-be-previously attempted vampire voice as he dodged dirty looks and jettisoned drinkware.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
It was one of the reasons Guardiola jettisoned Joe Hart upon arrival at Etihad Stadium.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
As the board seized control, Tessellations jettisoned its holistic approach to identifying giftedness in favor of traditional IQ tests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
It could learn from India, which jettisoned antipathy toward Israel in the early 1990s, at around the same time that it embraced a more market-based economic outlook.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
When I lowered my arm, I screamed, thinking the sluggers had jettisoned me into space.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
But, amid the hand-wringing and reviews, O'Shea believes the RFU was bounced too quickly into jettisoning a coaching group, which was led by Stuart Lancaster and also contained Farrell, Graham Rowntree and Mike Catt.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Plenty of investors these days are jettisoning anything that seems risky from their portfolios, but things that look like junk may not be.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
What we found could help calm some nerves, and might even stop investors from making the mistake of jettisoning the big winners too early.
From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025
A cyclist on Ngapipi Bridge, a mile away, heard a splash underneath him—Dillais jettisoning the motor—then saw the Zodiac coast under the bridge into Hobson Bay.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
Basketball players did passing drills on deck, but the wind kept jettisoning the balls into the Atlantic.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
