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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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:
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
For one day a week, employees could jettison their suits and pantyhose and heels and wear… no one was quite sure at first, although Levi’s Dockers played a big role, at least for men.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
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
In public, Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim tried to counter the view that he wanted to jettison Rashford.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2025
On the other hand, we had to be a hundred percent certain not to jettison the parachutes before the spacecraft hit the water.
From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins
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
Although they live within their means, Man-su’s termination jettisons the You family from their tax bracket and thrusts its patriarch down a rabbit hole of shame and emasculation.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2025
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
The book written by David Thompson with Sharon Washington maintains the film’s immediate post-World War II jubilance but jettisons much of the plot that was specific to De Niro and Minnelli.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
The starfish is often in the dilemma of losing a limb or its life; by a reflex action it jettisons the captured arm and escapes.
From The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) A Plain Story Simply Told by J. Arthur Thomson
Traditional summer-camp activities, such as color wars, were quickly jettisoned for onstage interviews and meet-and-greets with Waters and his colleagues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
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
Without Stokes' all-round abilities, the hosts have had to bolster their batting by bringing in debutant Jordan Cox, and add to their seam bowling with Sonny Baker, meaning Bashir has been jettisoned.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 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
Once, when they hadn’t had enough space in the trunk of the Rabbit, Mia had jettisoned half of her clothing to make room.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
In recent years the airline has scaled back its route network, jettisoning money-losing flights to focus on its core business serving East Coast leisure destinations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
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
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
It’s hard to imagine that Les Snead and Sean McVay were not in lockstep over jettisoning Ernest Jones and getting next to nothing in return.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2024
Basketball players did passing drills on deck, but the wind kept jettisoning the balls into the Atlantic.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
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