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thump

[thuhmp]
noun
  1. a blow with something thick and heavy, producing a dull sound; a heavy knock.
  2. the sound made by or as if by such a blow.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to strike or beat with something thick and heavy, so as to produce a dull sound; pound.
  2. (of an object) to strike against (something) heavily and noisily.
  3. Informal. to thrash severely.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to strike, beat, or fall heavily, with a dull sound.
  2. to walk with heavy steps; pound.
  3. to palpitate or beat violently, as the heart.
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Origin of thump

First recorded in 1530–40; imitative
Related formsthump·er, nounun·thumped, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for thumper

Historical Examples

  • By the bones of Prosodius, I expected a lie, but not such a thumper as that.

    Phelim O'toole's Courtship and Other Stories

    William Carleton

  • Thumper, a magnificently constructed lie, a lie about which there is no stint of imaginative power.

    The Slang Dictionary

    John Camden Hotten

  • Shut up like a rat-trap, and trotted off twist-ways, the "Thumper" did, huffed in 'is boozy old style.

  • The word coblyn has the double meaning of knocker or thumper and sprite or fiend; and may it not be the original of goblin?

    British Goblins

    Wirt Sikes

  • She did not want a "thumper," for Mimi would play as many waltzes and polkas as the company desired.

British Dictionary definitions for thumper

thump

noun
  1. the sound of a heavy solid body hitting or pounding a comparatively soft surface
  2. a heavy blow with the handhe gave me a thump on the back
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verb
  1. (tr) to strike or beat heavily; pound
  2. (intr) to throb, beat, or pound violentlyhis heart thumped with excitement
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Derived Formsthumper, noun

Word Origin

C16: related to Icelandic, Swedish dialect dumpa to thump; see thud, bump
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

Word Origin and History for thumper

thump

v.

1530s, "to strike hard," probably imitative of the sound made by hitting with a heavy object (cf. East Frisian dump "a knock," Swedish dialectal dumpa "to make a noise"). Related: Thumped; thumping.

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thump

n.

1550s, from thump (v.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper