jump-start
Americannoun
-
jump-starts
plural
verb (used with object)
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jump-starts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
jump-started,
past participle, past
-
jump-starting
present participle
-
to give a jump-start to.
to jump-start an engine.
-
to enliven or revive.
to jump-start a sluggish economy.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
jump-startsimple
-
jump-startssimple
-
have jump-startedperfect
-
has jump-startedperfect
-
am jump-startingprogressive
-
are jump-startingprogressive
-
is jump-startingprogressive
-
have been jump-startingperfect progressive
-
has been jump-startingperfect progressive
Past
-
jump-startedsimple
-
had jump-startedperfect
-
was jump-startingprogressive
-
were jump-startingprogressive
-
had been jump-startingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jump-start
First recorded in 1975–80
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:
More often in recent years, the funds that the World Bank advances have been intended not only to jump-start projects but also to seed parallel investments from the private sector, lifting the development bank’s impact.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
If you’ve ever been running errands, gone to start your car, and nothing happens because the battery is dead, you know how important it is to have a set of cables to jump-start your vehicle.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
Mindy Kaling’s “Not Suitable for Work” chronicles five ambitious neighbors in Manhattan looking to jump-start their careers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The ceasefire was supposed to jump-start negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, right?
From Slate ● Jul. 9, 2026
I try to jump-start her by asking, “So did Vanessa dominate the four hundred?”
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
Past studies in mice suggest this shift in brain fueling is what jump-starts the creation of BDNF.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 5, 2023
First is forewarning, which jump-starts the psychological immune system because it’s sleeping most of the time.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 13, 2023
She doesn’t call for warming, but I knew – and verified in testing – that it jump-starts the whole affair so effectively it’s worth incorporating into the method.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2021
The hybrid rental car’s battery died in Santiago do Cacém, and it took four hours, three jump-starts and at least two linguistically treacherous phone calls to get it up and running.
From New York Times ● Oct. 23, 2019
Practically everywhere he goes, he jump-starts music programs for children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2016
In happier news, rising case counts have jump-started research into drugs that could treat people who do get sick, including antibody and antiviral therapies.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
Then came a shift in 2016, when the Academy gave an honorary Oscar to Lynn Stalmaster, who cast hundreds of films and jump-started the careers of Dustin Hoffman, Jeff Bridges, John Travolta and Christopher Reeve.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
That performance, one of five games Mayfield started to finish that historic Super Bowl-hangover season for the Rams, jump-started Mayfield’s then-stalled career.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2025
Second-year quarterback Bo Nix jump-started the Broncos with a huge play at the end of the first half that shocked the Chargers and had thousands of orange-clad fans at SoFi Stadium erupting in cheers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2025
The idea of moving into the city had also been jump-started.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
The protagonists of those shows and raunchier offshoots like “Bachelor in Paradise” often found their social followings shooting up into the millions, jump-starting careers or side hustles pitching vitamin gummies or meal kits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
Rodríguez and her aides still control the nation’s security apparatus, which is vital to jump-starting the energy industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
“If there is any money left over in the plan, the student can roll the money over to a Roth IRA, jump-starting their retirement planning.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2025
All of this raises the stakes for the chancellor's challenge of delivering both credible tax and spend plans, as well as jump-starting growth at her upcoming Budget.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2025
Like hooking up the wires for the TV or the stereo, or jump-starting a car.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
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.
