jump-start

[juhmp-stahrt]

noun

1. Automotive.,  Also the starting of an internal-combustion engine that has a discharged or weak battery by means of booster cables.

verb (used with object)

1. to give a jump-start to.

   to jump-start an engine.

2. to enliven or revive.

   to jump-start a sluggish economy.

jump-start

verb

1. to start the engine of (a car) by connecting it to another engine with jump leads or (of a car) to start in this way

noun

1. the act of starting a car in this way

Word History and Origins

Origin of jump-start¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

This mechanism, along with creative tax incentives, was replicated throughout the New Deal—jump-starting technical and financial innovation in consumer credit, rural electrification, aluminum mining and aerospace industry.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This could jump-start business for lenders who only refinanced around one million mortgages in 2024.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Can a movie jump-start a new era — or at least a conversation?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The MiG‑21 also shaped India's defence ties with Russia and helped jump-start its own aerospace industry.

Read more on BBC

Tarango hopes it will jump-start a wider conversation on how Indigenous people can come together to influence U.S. agriculture and more healthy diets.

Read more on Los Angeles Times