bump

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʌmp/,
• (General American) IPA^(key): /bʌmp/, ,

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌmp

Etymology 1

From Early Modern English bump (“a shock, blow from a collision”), probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Danish bump (“a thump”), Danish bumpe (“to thump”), Old Danish bumpe (“to strike with a clenched fist”). Apparently related to Middle English bumben, bummen (“to make a hollow noise”), Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”), German Low German bumsen (“to bump, push”), German bummen (“to hum, buzz”), Icelandic bumba (“drum”), probably of imitative origin. More at bum, bumble. Compare also bomb.

Noun

bump (countable and uncountable, plural bumps)

1. A light blow or jolting collision.
2. The sound of such a collision.
3. A protuberance on a level surface.
4. A swelling on the skin caused by illness or injury.
   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     It had upon its brow / A bump as big as a young cockerel's stone.

5. (obsolete) One of the protuberances on the cranium which, in phrenology, are associated with distinct faculties or affections of the mind. Also (dated, metonymically) the faculty itself

   the bump of veneration; the bump of acquisitiveness

   • c.1845 Thomas MacNevin, cited in Charles Gavan Duffy (1896) Young Ireland: A Fragment of Irish History, 1840-45; final revision (London: T.F. Unwin) Vol.II p.100:

     Our task is to elevate the character of the people, raising up, in fact, their bump of self-esteem and suppressing the bumps of servility and fury.

   • 1902, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, 2nd edition, page 102:

     Another, with the bump of order unnaturally developed, had his folios and quartos all reduced, in binding, to one size, so that they might look even on his bookshelves.

6. (rowing) The point, in a race in which boats are spaced apart at the start, at which a boat begins to overtake the boat ahead.
7. The swollen abdomen of a pregnant woman.

   Synonym: baby bump

8. (Internet) A post in an Internet forum thread made in order to raise the thread's profile by returning it to the top of the list of active threads.
9. A temporary increase in a quantity, as shown in a graph.

   US presidential nominees get a post-convention bump in survey ratings.

10. (slang) A dose of a drug such as ketamine or cocaine, when snorted recreationally.
    • 2019 August 9, Joshua Azizi, “Shambhala Music Festival makes harm reduction a priority”, in The Georgia Straight‎:

      “They're getting their drugs mixed up,” she said. “If someone did a line of coke, it would be a very different size than if someone did a bump of ketamine, right? So if they're thinking it's cocaine and they do a line, they could go into a k-hole and be completely unable to move for hours. Maybe not hours, but for a while.”

11. (preceded by definite article) A disco dance in which partners rhythmically bump each other's hips together.
    • 1979, Robert English, Toxic Kisses, Eden Paperbacks, page 32:

      We sing [...] "God Save the Queen" done in mime and finally "Clap Hands, Here Comes Charley" to a Hawaiian rock with Phoebe doing the bump.

12. In skipping, a single jump over two consecutive turns of the rope.
13. (uncountable) A coarse cotton fabric.
14. A training match for a fighting dog.
15. (snooker, slang) The jaw of either of the middle pockets.
16. (US, slang, uncountable) Music, especially played over speakers at loud volume with strong bass frequency response.
    • 2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown‎, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG:

      Call me the juice and you know I'm a stunt; ride in the car with some bump in the trunk.

17. (US, broadcasting) A short, self-promotional spot on a radio or television station.
18. (industrial relations) A reassignment of jobs within an organization (for example, when an existing employee leaves) on the basis of seniority.
    • 1985, Peter B. Doeringer, Michael J. Piore, Internal Labor Markets and Manpower Analysis, page 55:

      For example, chain bumping, in which a bump by one employee initiates a series of consecutive bumps down a progression line before a layoff results, produces the greatest average number of reassignments per redundant employee.

19. (card games) In the game of khanhoo, the act of claiming a newly discarded card when it is not one's turn, permitted when one can use the card to form a meld other than a sequence.
20. (colloquial) A minor problem or difficulty.
    • 2015, Dianna Love, Slye Team Black Ops 3-book box set:

      "I'll try my best, but we still have a few bumps to work out," Ryder muttered.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

bump (third-person singular simple present bumps, present participle bumping, simple past and past participle bumped)

1. To knock against or run into with a jolt.
2. To move up or down by a step; displace.

   I bumped the font size up to make my document easier to read.

3. (Internet) To post in an Internet forum thread in order to raise the thread's profile by returning it to the top of the list of active threads.
   • 2015, Barbara Horrell, Christine Stephens, Mary Breheny, “Online Research with Informal Caregivers: Opportunities and Challenges”, in Qualitative Research in Psychology, volume 12, number 3, →DOI, page 264:

     As in [the online forum] carersvoicesnz, certain contributors were more visible, taking the initiative to "bump" the thread to bring it back into view if it went quiet.

4. (physical chemistry, of a superheated liquid) To suddenly boil, causing movement of the vessel and loss of liquid.
   • 1916, Albert Prescott Mathews, Physiological chemistry:

     Heat until the liquid bumps, then reduce the heat and continue the boiling for 1½ hours.

5. (transitive) To move (a booked passenger) to a later flight because of earlier delays or cancellations.
   • 2005, Lois Jones, EasyJet: the story of Britain's biggest low-cost airline, page 192:

     Easyjet said the compensation package for passengers bumped off flights was 'probably the most flawed piece of European legislation in recent years' […]

6. (transitive) To move the time of (a scheduled event).
   • 2010, Nancy Conner, Matthew MacDonald, Office 2010: The Missing Manual, page 332:

     A colleague emails with news that her 4:30 meeting got bumped to 3:30.

7. (transitive) To pick (a lock) with a repeated striking motion that dislodges the pins.
8. (intransitive, archaic) To make a loud, heavy, or hollow noise; to boom.
   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Wife of Bathe’s Tale. As it was Written by Geffrey Chaucer”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC:

     as a bittern bumps within a reed

9. (printing, dated) To spread out material so as to fill any desired number of pages.
10. (slang, transitive) To assassinate; to bump off.
    • 1944, William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman, The Big Sleep (screenplay)

      You know about the night the kid bumped Brody?

11. (industrial relations, transitive) To displace (another employee in an organization) on the basis of seniority.
    • 1969, Major Collective Bargaining Agreements, volume 9:

      Employees with 2 years or more, and less than 8 years plant seniority, may bump a probationary employee.

12. (colloquial, dated) To anger, irritate.
    • 1911 September 25, “Wouldn't It Make You Mad”, in San Francisco Examiner:

      After his ancestors had been browbeaten by the Puritans, and his ancestors had been driven out by the early pioneers [...], if he learned that a magnificent bronze statue is to be erected to his ancestors; wouldn't it bump an Indian?

13. (card games) In the game of khanhoo, to claim a newly discarded card when it is not one's turn, permitted when one can use the card to form a meld other than a sequence.
14. (criminal slang and US military slang, circa 1920–1950) To encounter and stop, to catch.

Derived terms

Translations

Interjection

bump

1. (Internet) Posted in an Internet forum thread in order to raise the thread's profile by returning it to the top of the list of active threads.

Etymology 2

From Early Modern English; onomatopoeic.

Noun

bump (countable and uncountable, plural bumps)

1. The breeding call made by the bittern; a boom.

Verb

bump (third-person singular simple present bumps, present participle bumping, simple past and past participle bumped)

1. Of a bittern, to make its characteristic breeding call.

References

Danish

Etymology

Onomatopoeic, compare English bump.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bomˀp/,
• Homophone: bomb

Noun

bump n (singular definite bumpet, plural indefinite bump)

1. thud
2. jolt
3. road hump

Declension

Derived terms

• vejbump
• bumpe

Verb

bump (form)

1. imperative of bumpe

Welsh

Numeral

bump

1. Soft mutation of pump (“five”).

Mutation