on the jump

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word on the jump. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word on the jump, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say on the jump in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word on the jump you have here. The definition of the word on the jump will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofon the jump, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Prepositional phrase

on the jump

  1. (Canada, US, informal) In a hurry.
    • 1915, Jack London·, The Little Lady of the Big House:
      Come on the jump. Bring the needful for first aid. It's a rifle shot through the lungs or heart or both.
    • 2021, Peter B. Kyne, Cappy Ricks Retires:
      Accordingly Sam Daniels was sent for and arrived on the jump.
    • 2021, Allen Chapman, Fred Fenton on the Crew:
      Everybody was on the jump, and it was a furious crowd that went rushing down toward where the new shell had been laid, along the shore of the river, at a point where a little beach offered an ideal spot for launching.
  2. (Canada, US, informal, dated) Very busy; fully engaged in energetic activity; on the go.
    • 1892, E.V. Sumner, Annual Report of the Secretary of War, page 231:
      My cavalry is on the jump all the time and in every direction, as you know from having seen several detachments, and I will do my utmost to carry out orders and wishes of the authorities.
    • 1937, The New Outlook for the Blind - Volumes 31-32, page 198:
      Again she bemoans the inroad of interruptions, especially those of the "inexorable" telephone which keeps Polly on the jump.
    • 1938, Robert Greenhalgh Albion, Square-riggers on Schedule, page 142:
      There were many other jobs to be done during the day, for the traditional smartness of a packet was maintained only by keeping the crews constantly on the jump at times when, on an ordinary freighter, they might be taking life more easily.
    • 1999, Dwight David Eisenhower, Joseph P. Hobbs, George Catlett Marshall, Dear General: Eisenhower's Wartime Letters to Marshall, page 98:
      We have been kept on the jump to stabilize the situation and to maintain some mobile striking power as a general reserve both from defensive and local offensive affairs.

Further reading