slump
verb (used without object)
to drop or fall heavily; collapse.
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slump
American
[sluhmp]
/ slʌmp /
verb (used without object)
-
slumps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slumped,
past participle, past
-
slumping
present participle
-
to drop or fall heavily; collapse.
Suddenly she slumped to the floor.
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to assume a slouching, bowed, or bent position or posture.
Stand up straight and don't slump!
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to decrease or fall suddenly and markedly, as prices or the market.
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to decline or deteriorate, as health, business, quality, or efficiency.
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to sink into a bog, muddy place, etc., or through ice or snow.
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to sink heavily, as the spirits.
noun
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slumps
plural
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an act or instance of slumping.
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a decrease, decline, or deterioration.
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a period of decline or deterioration.
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any mild recession in the economy as a whole or in a particular industry.
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a period during which a person performs slowly, inefficiently, or ineffectively, especially a period during which an athlete or team fails to play or score as well as usual.
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a slouching, bowed, or bent position or posture, especially of the shoulders.
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a landslide or rockslide.
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the vertical subsidence of freshly mixed concrete that is a measure of consistency and stiffness.
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New England Cooking. a dessert made with cooked fruit, especially apples or berries, topped with a thick layer of biscuit dough or crumbs.
slump
1
British
/ slʌmp /
verb
-
to sink or fall heavily and suddenly
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to relax ungracefully
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(of business activity, etc) to decline suddenly; collapse
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(of health, interest, etc) to deteriorate or decline suddenly or markedly
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(of soil or rock) to slip down a slope, esp a cliff, usually with a rotational movement
noun
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a sudden or marked decline or failure, as in progress or achievement; collapse
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a decline in commercial activity, prices, etc
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economics another word for depression
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the act of slumping
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a slipping of earth or rock; landslide
Slump
2
British
/ slʌmp /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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slumpsimple
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slumpssimple
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have slumpedperfect
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has slumpedperfect
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am slumpingprogressive
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are slumpingprogressive
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is slumpingprogressive
-
have been slumpingperfect progressive
-
has been slumpingperfect progressive
Past
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slumpedsimple
-
had slumpedperfect
-
was slumpingprogressive
-
were slumpingprogressive
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had been slumpingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slump
1670–80; originally, to sink into a bog or mud; perhaps imitative ( cf. plump 2)
Explanation
To slump is to fall or slouch down. It's also a downturn in performance — a struggling ballplayer and a sinking economy are both in a slump. There are many kinds of slumps, but they all involve things going downhill. If you slide down in your chair, you slump. Other slumps are less physical. If a successful quarterback starts losing games and throwing interceptions, that's a slump. The original meaning of slump, back in the 1670s, was "fall or sink into a muddy place," while the more figurative meanings came much later.
Vocabulary lists containing slump
The Lingo of Body Language
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Long Way Down
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Dear Martin
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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:
Demand for electric vehicles is in a slump, leaving automakers with the need for fewer batteries than originally anticipated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
When 3 in the afternoon rolls around on a particularly bad work day, you’re in desperate need of a fun sweet treat to get you out of the slump.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
But his investment has suffered a "gut-wrenching" slump, Park says.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Polizzi said the county-wide slump in TV and film production is partially to blame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
I hope Hank Greenberg’s busted out of his slump by now.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Appeared in the May 28, 2026, print edition as 'New-Car Sales Slump Deepens'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Born in Nagoya, Japan in 1955, Mr Toriyama broke into the comic book world in the early 1980s with Dr. Slump, which tells the story of a little girl robot Arale and her scientist creator.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2024
His Dr Slump series that started in 1980 became a huge hit, elevating him to a best-selling young comic artist.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
He was expected to release a new mixtape with rapper Ski Mask the Slump God this year.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 8, 2019
That mean attack, too, would be characteristic of Slump.
From Ralph in the Switch Tower by Allen Chapman
AMD stock slumps amid questions about its ability to take market share from Nvidia.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
She slumps over a cloth in the arms of a caretaker with her eyes closed, but rouses when another person brings her what appears to be raw meat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Analysts attributed slumps in Tesla sales in 2025 to be partly due to customers turning against Musk.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Midcareer stalls often start as early-career slumps and can ripple across a lifetime of earnings, the analysis found.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
The principal kind of slumps for a moment, almost like it took everything he had to make it this far.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
Sunrisers, who comfortably beat Southern Brave in Friday's Eliminator, slumped to 26-3 at the end of the powerplay and failed to recover.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The result: Internet sales boomed in June and slumped in July — down 2.3%.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Instead the value of his tech investments slumped by around 25% in July.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
The simplest explanation is that, squeezed by higher prices, demand slumped.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
After a moment, he slumped in his chair.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
AstraZeneca shares were slumping while Bristol-Myers Squibb was jumping on Monday on reported deal talks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
AstraZeneca shares were slumping while Bristol Myers Squibb was jumping on Monday on reported deal talks.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
The benchmark index was recently 10.3% lower, with chip-making index heavyweights SK Hynix slumping 13% and Samsung Electronics dropping 12.0%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
That can make it more difficult for the index to climb when shares of megacap companies are slumping, even if other stocks and sectors are performing well.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
Most mornings they’d argue for a few minutes, then Tyler would surrender his pencil, his shoulders slumping as he pulled on his boots and welding gloves.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
