jump-start

[ juhmp-stahrt ]

noun
  1. Also jump. Automotive. 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.

Origin of jump-start

1
First recorded in 1975–80

Words Nearby jump-start

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

How to use jump-start in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for jump-start

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

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