Adjacent Words

Bump definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BUMP, n. [L. bombus, and Eng. pomp.,from swelling, thrusting out.]
1. A swelling or protuberance.
2. A thump; a heavy blow.
BUMP, v.i. To make a loud, heavy or hollow noise, as the bittern. It is also written boom.
BUMP, v.t. To strike as with or against any thing large or solid, as to bump the head against a wall; to thump.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a lump on the body caused by a blow
2: something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings; "the gun in his pocket made an obvious bulge"; "the hump of a camel"; "he stood on the rocky prominence"; "the occipital protuberance was well developed"; "the bony excrescence between its horns" [syn: bulge, bump, hump, swelling, gibbosity, gibbousness, jut, prominence, protuberance, protrusion, extrusion, excrescence]
3: an impact (as from a collision); "the bump threw him off the bicycle" [syn: blow, bump] v
1: knock against with force or violence; "My car bumped into the tree" [syn: bump, knock]
2: come upon, as if by accident; meet with; "We find this idea in Plato"; "I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here"; "She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day" [syn: find, happen, chance, bump, encounter]
3: dance erotically or dance with the pelvis thrust forward; "bump and grind"
4: assign to a lower position; reduce in rank; "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sergeant" [syn: demote, bump, relegate, break, kick downstairs] [ant: advance, elevate, kick upstairs, promote, raise, upgrade]
5: remove or force from a position of dwelling previously occupied; "The new employee dislodged her by moving into her office space" [syn: dislodge, bump]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: probably imitative of the sound of a blow Date: 1581 1. a relatively abrupt convexity or protuberance on a surface: as a. a swelling of tissue b. a cranial protuberance 2. a. a sudden forceful blow, impact, or jolt b. demotion 3. an act of thrusting the hips forward in an erotic manner II. verb Date: 1581 transitive verb 1. to strike or knock with force or violence 2. to collide with 3. a. (1) to dislodge with a jolt (2) to subject to a scalar change <rates being bumped up> b. to oust usually by virtue of seniority or priority <was bumped from the flight> intransitive verb 1. to knock against something with a forceful jolt 2. to proceed in or as if in a series of bumps 3. to encounter something that is an obstacle or hindrance <bumped up against a chair>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n., v., & adv. --n. 1 a dull-sounding blow or collision. 2 a swelling or dent caused by this. 3 an uneven patch on a road, field, etc. 4 Phrenol. any of various prominences on the skull thought to indicate different mental faculties. 5 (in narrow-river races where boats make a spaced start one behind another) the point at which a boat begins to overtake (and usu. touches) the boat ahead, thereby defeating it. 6 Aeron. a an irregularity in an aircraft's motion. b a rising air current causing this. --v. 1 a tr. hit or come against with a bump. b intr. (of two objects) collide. 2 intr. (foll. by against, into) hit with a bump; collide with. 3 tr. (often foll. by against, on) hurt or damage by striking (bumped my head on the ceiling; bumped the car while parking). 4 intr. (usu. foll. by along) move or travel with much jolting (we bumped along the road). 5 tr. (in a boat-race) gain a bump against. 6 tr. US displace, esp. by seniority. --adv. with a bump; suddenly; violently. Phrases and idioms: bump into colloq. meet by chance. bump off sl. murder. bump up colloq. increase (prices etc.). Etymology: 16th c., imit.: perh. f. Scand.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bump Bump, v. i. [See Boom to roar.] To make a loud, heavy, or hollow noise, as the bittern; to boom. As a bittern bumps within a reed. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bump Bump, n. The noise made by the bittern.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bump Bump, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bumped; p. pr. & vb. n. Bumping.] [Cf. W. pwmp round mass, pwmpiaw to thump, bang, and E. bum, v. i., boom to roar.] To strike, as with or against anything large or solid; to thump; as, to bump the head against a wall.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bump Bump, v. i. To come in violent contact with something; to thump. ``Bumping and jumping.'' --Southey.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bump Bump, n. [From Bump to strike, to thump.] 1. A thump; a heavy blow. 2. A swelling or prominence, resulting from a bump or blow; a protuberance. It had upon its brow A bump as big as a young cockerel's stone. --Shak. 3. (Phren.) One of the protuberances on the cranium which are associated with distinct faculties or affections of the mind; as, the bump of ``veneration;'' the bump of ``acquisitiveness.'' [Colloq.] 4. The act of striking the stern of the boat in advance with the prow of the boat following. [Eng.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(bumps, bumping, bumped) 1. If you bump into something or someone, you accidentally hit them while you are moving. They stopped walking and he almost bumped into them... He bumped his head on the low beams of the house. VERB: V into/against n, V n • Bump is also a noun. Small children often cry after a minor bump. N-COUNT 2. A bump is the action or the dull sound of two heavy objects hitting each other. I felt a little bump and I knew instantly what had happened... The child took five steps, and then sat down with a bump. N-COUNT 3. A bump is a minor injury or swelling that you get if you bump into something or if something hits you. She fell against our coffee table and got a large bump on her forehead. = lump N-COUNT 4. If you have a bump while you are driving a car, you have a minor accident in which you hit something. (INFORMAL) = accident, crash N-COUNT 5. A bump on a road is a raised, uneven part. The truck hit a bump and bounced. N-COUNT 6. If a vehicle bumps over a surface, it travels in a rough, bouncing way because the surface is very uneven. We left the road, and again bumped over the mountainside... VERB: V prep/adv, also V way adv/prep 7. see also goose bumps 8. If someone comes down to earth with a bump, they suddenly start recognizing unpleasant facts after a period of time when they have not been doing this. Company bosses have come back down to earth with a bump after a period of post-election euphoria. PHRASE: PHR after v [emphasis]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Thump, knock, blow, shock, jar, jolt. 2. Swelling, protuberance, lump. 3. (Colloquial, in allusion to the doctrine of Phrenology that protuberances on the skull indicate faculties of the mind.) Faculty, power, endowment, gift. II. v. a. Knock, thump, strike, hit. III. v. n. 1. Come in contact, strike together, strike, thump. 2. Boom (as the bittern), make a hollow, resounding noise.

Foolish Dictionary

A tough fall.

Moby Thesaurus

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