pump

¹ American  

[puhmp] / pʌmp /

noun

1. an apparatus or machine for raising, driving, exhausting, or compressing fluids or gases by means of a piston, plunger, or set of rotating vanes.

2. Engineering, Building Trades. a shore having a jackscrew in its foot for adjusting the length or for bearing more firmly against the structure to be sustained.

3. Biology. an animal organ that propels fluid through the body; heart.

4. Cell Biology. a system that supplies energy for transport against a chemical gradient, as the sodium pump for the transfer of sodium and potassium ions across a cell membrane.

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verb (used with object)

• pumps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pumped,
  past participle,  past
• pumping
  present participle

1. to raise, drive, etc., with a pump.

2. to free from water or other liquid by means of a pump.

3. to inflate by pumping (often followed byup ).

   to pump a tire up.

4. to operate or move by an up-and-down or back-and-forth action.

5. to supply with air, as an organ, by means of a pumplike device.

6. to drive, force, etc., as if from a pump.

   He rapidly pumped a dozen shots into the bull's-eye.

7. to supply or inject as if by using a pump.

   to pump money into a failing business.

8. to question artfully or persistently to elicit information.

   to pump someone for confidential information.

9. to elicit (information) by questioning.

verb (used without object)

• pumps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pumped,
  past participle,  past
• pumping
  present participle

1. to work a pump; raise or move water, oil, etc., with a pump.

2. to operate as a pump does.

3. to move up and down like a pump handle.

4. to exert oneself in a manner likened to pumping.

   He pumped away at his homework all evening.

5. to seek to elicit information from a person.

6. to come out in spurts.

verb phrase

1. pump up

   1. to inflate.

   2. to increase, heighten, or strengthen; put more effort into or emphasis on; intensify.

      The store has decided to pump up its advertising.

   3. to infuse with enthusiasm, competitive spirit, energy, etc..

      The contestants were all backstage pumping themselves up for their big moment.

idioms

1. pump iron. iron.

2. prime the pump,

   1. to increase government expenditure in an effort to stimulate the economy.

   2. to support or promote the operation or improvement of something.

pump ² American  

[puhmp] / pʌmp /

noun

1. a lightweight, low-cut shoe without fastenings for women.

2. a slip-on black patent leather shoe for men, for wear with formal dress.

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pump ¹ British  

/ pʌmp /

noun

1. a low-cut low-heeled shoe without fastenings, worn esp for dancing

2. a type of shoe with a rubber sole, used in games such as tennis; plimsoll

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pump ² British  

/ pʌmp /

noun

1. any device for compressing, driving, raising, or reducing the pressure of a fluid, esp by means of a piston or set of rotating impellers

2. biology a mechanism for the active transport of ions, such as protons, calcium ions, and sodium ions, across cell membranes

   a sodium pump

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verb

1. to raise or drive (air, liquid, etc, esp into or from something) with a pump or similar device

2. (tr; usually foll by in or into) to supply in large amounts

   to pump capital into a project

3. (tr) to deliver (shots, bullets, etc) repeatedly with great force

4. to operate (something, esp a handle or lever) in the manner of a pump or (of something) to work in this way

   to pump the pedals of a bicycle

5. (tr) to obtain (information) from (a person) by persistent questioning

6. (intr; usually foll by from or out of) (of liquids) to flow freely in large spurts

   oil pumped from the fissure

pump Scientific  

/ pŭmp /

1. A device used to raise or transfer fluids. Most pumps function either by compression or suction.

2. A molecular mechanism for the active transport of ions or molecules across a cell membrane.

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Usage

What else does pump mean? Content warning: this article contains references to guns. Among many other slang senses, pump is short for pump-action shotgun, a type of shotgun that requires the user to change the shell with a pumping-like action.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pumpable
  adjective
• pumpless
  adjective
• pumplike
  adjective
• unpumpable
  adjective
• unpumped
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• pumping
  present
• pumped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pump
  simple
• pumps
  simple
• have pumped
  perfect
• has pumped
  perfect
• am pumping
  progressive
• are pumping
  progressive
• is pumping
  progressive
• have been pumping
  perfect progressive
• has been pumping
  perfect progressive

Past

• pumped
  simple
• had pumped
  perfect
• was pumping
  progressive
• were pumping
  progressive
• had been pumping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pump
  simple
• will have pumped
  perfect
• will be pumping
  progressive
• will have been pumping
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of pump¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English noun pumpe, pompe; cognate with German Pumpe, Dutch pomp

Origin of pump²

First recorded in 1720–30; origin uncertain

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Explanation

A pump is a machine that sucks up liquid from one place and moves it somewhere else, like a gas pump. If you’re pumped about this word, you can put on pumps, pump up the volume, and pump some iron! When you use the device called a pump, you pump water or gas. Other things that force some liquid or gas to move, also pump: your heart pumps blood, and your foot pumps the brake of your car when you're stopping on an icy road. If you pump iron, you lift weights. If you’re pumped, you’re excited. “Pump Up the Volume” was a hit song in 1987, so turn it up. A pump is also a woman's dress shoe.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pump pumps pumped pumping

They were looking at their grocery bills, electricity bills and the price at the petrol pump.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

CEO Michael Hurlston says Lumentum delivered growth across all its businesses, with pump lasers and optical circuit switches being the leading contributors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

According to an estimate by Goldman Sachs, the first shipments of Russian diesel might pare diesel prices in the U.S. by no more than two to five cents per gallon at the pump.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

Surging diesel costs at the pump helped push Britain's annual inflation rate to 3.5 percent in September, the highest rate for nearly a year.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

It is easy to think that new knowledge comes from new types of apparatus—Galileo’s telescope, Boyle’s air pump, Newton’s prism—not from new intellectual tools.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

She slipped into pumps with the American flag bedazzled across them at a primary election party in Iowa in June.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

It’s become a battle in which the weapons are sandbags, water pumps, sand berms and drainage canals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

These ultrasound scans use sound waves to produce moving images of the heart, allowing doctors to examine its structure and measure how effectively it pumps blood.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026

The cost of diesel at UK pumps recently reached the highest level since July 2022, shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

First aid supplies, stacks of metal helmets, and stirrup pumps with fire hoses.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Plans call for two large dams about 300 feet high, as well as nine smaller ones, holding water pumped from the Sacramento River and inundating about 15,000 acres in a valley northwest of Sacramento.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

Tech firms were also under pressure as investors continue to fret over the AI investment boom and when firms that have pumped billions into the sector will eventually see returns, if ever.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

“It is just some really jaw-dropping, astonishing amounts of money that some of these top donors have pumped into the 2026 midterms,” he added.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026

She was placed on a machine that pumped air into her lungs via a mask.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

When the mercury dropped, the bladder was left behind and swelled up as if it had been pumped full of air.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

The subsequent crisis has made prolonged blackouts the norm, which in turn reduces the water supply, as pumping depends primarily on electric turbines.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

Istanbul municipal teams and firefighters were carrying out cleanup operations at schools, football pitches, garages and other sites on Thursday, pumping water out of flooded areas and clearing mud, an AFP photographer reported.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

They also want the court to assert oversight, determining how much pumping should be curtailed and requiring the state to develop a long-term plan under its supervision.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

Nvidia has been on an investing tear recently, pumping billions into the neocloud space.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

He ran in terror, straining every muscle, pumping his legs, his arms, not daring to look back.

From "The Fighting Ground" by Avi

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Related Words

• drain
• draw
• inject
• pour
• push
• send
• siphon
• supply
• tap

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