bump

plural bumps

1. countableA light blow or jolting collision.

   His car had a tiny bump with a moving bus.

   1. countableThe sound of such a collision.

      He heard a loud bump and saw the front part of his car was broken and the driver of the other car was running to apologise.

   2. broadlycountableinformalAny light sound.

      He heard bumps in the night.

   3. countableA fist bump.

      I held my fist up, and he gave me a bump before leaving.

   4. countableA car accident, usually a small one.

      I had a bump last time I drove into the city.

   5. countablegovernmentA collision, especially a fall.

      Did you see the bump he took last night?

   6. countablefigurativelyslanguncountableA dose of a drug, such as ketamine or cocaine, snorted; a small dose of a snorted drug.

      1 more example

      “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.”

      2019 August 9, Joshua Azizi, “Shambhala Music Festival makes harm reduction a priority”, in The Georgia Straight

   7. countableinformalA conflict.

      It happens during Libra—in the Jewish culture, once a year, weeks after the New Year, you look behind and are asked to forgive whoever you had a bump with in the last year.

      2020 September 28, Debra Silverman, “Libra/Aries Full Moon: The Grass Is Not Greener”, in Debra Silverman Astrology

2. countableuncountableA protuberance on a flat surface or a straight line.

   Be careful of that bump in the road.

   1 more example

   The boundary between Estonia and Russia has a bump north of that town.

   1. countableuncountableA swelling on the skin caused by illness or injury.

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

      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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]

   2. countableA bouffant hairstyle; the puffy upper part of such a hairstyle.

      She looks great with that bump Kelly gave her at the salon.

   3. countableThe swollen abdomen of a pregnant woman.

      Synonyms: baby bump

   4. countableobsoleteOne of the protuberances on the cranium which, in phrenology, are associated with distinct faculties or affections of the mind.

      the bump of veneration; the bump of acquisitiveness

      2 more examples

      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.

      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

      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.

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

   5. countabledatedmetonymicallyobsoleteuncountableThe faculty itself.
   6. countablefigurativelyA small increase in an amount.

      His pay got a bump last month.

   7. countablefigurativelyA small increase in excitement or interest.

      The addition of the fight scenes gave the story a little bump near the end, but overall, it bored me.

   8. countablefigurativelyA temporary, usually small, increase in a quantity, such as is shown in a graph.

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

   9. LondoncountablefigurativelyslanguncountableA ripoff or bad deal; an unjustly high price.

      I paid a hundred pounds for that, but it was a proper bump, mate.

   10. colloquialcountablefigurativelyA minor problem or difficulty.

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

       2015, Dianna Love, Slye Team Black Ops 3-book box set

3. Senses related to a movement, especially a rhythmic or sudden one.
   1. countableuncountablehobbiesThe point, in a race in which boats are spaced apart at the start, at which a boat begins to overtake the boat ahead.
   2. countableuncountableball gamesThe act of using one's forearm to strike the ball in a volleyball match.
   3. countableuncountableskipping ropeIn skipping, a single jump over two consecutive turns of the rope.
   4. countableuncountablebusinessA sudden movement of underground strata, preceded by a characteristic sound.
   5. InternetcountableA 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.
   6. countableuncountablecard gamesIn 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.
   7. USslanguncountableentertainmentThe sound and other sensations of a rhythm, especially in music with a strong, danceable beat, especially played over speakers at loud volume with strong bass frequency response.

      The rhythmic bump in that song made me want to dance.

      2 more examples

      The fetus can hear the bump of the mother's heartbeat.

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

      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

   8. UScountableslangentertainmentA good song, especially a danceable one.

      His latest song is such a bump, I can't stop listening to it on repeat.

   9. USslanguncountablepreceded by a definite articledanceA disco dance in which partners rhythmically bump their hips together.

      I saw him doing The Bump with her.

      1 more example

      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.

      1979, Robert English, Toxic Kisses, Eden Paperbacks, page 32

   10. countableindustrial relationsA reassignment of jobs within an organization (for example, when an existing employee leaves) on the basis of seniority.

       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.

       1985, Peter B. Doeringer, Michael J. Piore, Internal Labor Markets and Manpower Analysis, page 55

   11. countableemploymentA demotion or promotion.

       He got a bump up into senior management.

       1 more example

       They all had to either accept a bump down to a lesser role or get fired.

4. uncountablebusinessA coarse cotton fabric.
5. countableuncountabledogfightingA training match for a fighting dog.
6. countableslanguncountableball gamesThe jaw of either of the middle pockets.
7. UScountableadvertisingA short, self-promotional spot on a radio or television station.
8. UScountableuncountableespionageAn undercover contact or staged encounter used to elicit information, prompt a reaction, or arrange a follow-up meeting with a suspect or person of interest.

present singular third person bumps · participle present bumping · participle past bumped · past bumped

1. To knock against or run into with a jolt.

   Their car got bumped while they were turning at the junction.

2. To move up or down by a step; displace.

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

3. InternetTo 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.

   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.

   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

4. physicalchemistryTo suddenly boil, causing movement of the vessel and loss of liquid.

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

   1916, Albert Prescott Mathews, Physiological chemistry

5. transitiveTo move (a booked passenger) to a later flight because of earlier delays or cancellations.

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

   2005, Lois Jones, EasyJet: the story of Britain's biggest low-cost airline, page 192

6. transitiveTo move the time of (a scheduled event).

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

   2010, Nancy Conner, Matthew MacDonald, Office 2010: The Missing Manual, page 332

7. transitiveTo pick (a lock) with a repeated striking motion that dislodges the pins.
8. transitivecomputingTo increase (a version number).
9. archaicintransitiveTo make a loud, heavy, or hollow noise; to boom.

   as a bittern bumps within a reed

   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

10. datedmediaTo spread out material so as to fill any desired number of pages.
11. slangtransitiveTo assassinate; to bump off.

    You know about the night the kid bumped Brody?

    1944, William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman, The Big Sleep (screenplay)

12. transitiveindustrial relationsTo displace (another employee in an organization) on the basis of seniority.

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

    1969, Major Collective Bargaining Agreements, volume 9

13. colloquialdatedTo anger, irritate.

    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?

    1911 September 25, “Wouldn't It Make You Mad”, in San Francisco Examiner

14. card gamesIn 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.
15. slangTo play music through a speaker, often loudly and in public.
16. USslanggovernmentTo encounter and stop, to catch.
17. intransitiveTo move while bumping up and down, as a cart or car does on rough ground.

    The car bumped over the dirt road.

18. slangtransitiveTo snort a small dose of cocaine or another drug; to do a bump of a drug.

    She bumped some of that coke off her house key.

19. slangtransitiveto evade fare collection in public transport

    If you can bump Dartford Station, you can get into Buckingham Palace.

1. InternetPosted 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.

plural bumps

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

present singular third person bumps · participle present bumping · participle past bumped · past bumped

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

1. A surname.

1. InternetalternativeAlternative form of bump.