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

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

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

Instead of operating as an active proton pump, this chemical pair serves as a proton relay.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

Maritime security firm Vanguard Tech told AFP three explosions rocked the ship on June 6, flooding several areas including the steering gear compartment and pump room.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Family Nursing and Home Care said it had purchased 10 hospital-grade breast pumps and single-use pump kits.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

But she still doesn’t understand exactly how much water her family is allowed to pump, or how much money they might owe when the bill comes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

“Sunday afternoon,” he said, in a nasal Vermont voice, “there was a cream-colored LeMans, few years old, pulled up to that pump over there.”

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Power cuts mean that water pumps grind to a halt.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

All the pumps in Los Angeles are dealing with the same local wealth, costs, taxes, infrastructure and regulations that lead to higher prices, but some still find ways to offer much better deals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

Bristol Airport has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2030 by switching to electric vehicles, and powering the site with solar panels and 22 new industrial scale heat pumps.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Storage tanks need a minimum amount of oil just to keep their pumps working; the industry calls it “tank bottoms.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

Lem Harvey was the first man at the pumps.

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

The operator of the plant, whose four reactors built with Soviet-era technology are cooled by water pumped from the Danube, warned earlier that a shutdown was "unavoidable".

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

The subsidy program has pumped an estimated $9.8 billion into the market, $6.2 billion in 2025 and $3.6 billion in 2026, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Air subscription probably wouldn’t work exactly like other utilities, such as internet service or natural gas, where it gets pumped directly into your house, but then again, who is to say?

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

Mathieu Choinière pumped his fists as though he were operating a handcrank.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

We were at home, we were pumped up, momentum was on our side.

From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola

Among the most important contributors are heavy groundwater pumping, oil and gas extraction, the compression of relatively young sediments in river deltas, and the weight of expanding urban areas.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026

The legislation led to the formation of local agencies that are responsible for halting chronic declines in groundwater levels, including by imposing pumping limits and fees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

Alongside its LNG facility, Croatia also boasts oil pipelines connecting it to Bosnia, Hungary, Slovenia and Serbia -- capable of pumping nearly half a million barrels of crude per day.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

Happiness is not stable, Mr. Epley tells us; it’s like a leaky tire that needs continual pumping up with positive experiences.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

She hits the ground running, her arms and legs pumping.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Related Words

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