bump into

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

1. intransitiveliterallyTo collide with.

   He bumped into the wall. I guess that's a risk you take when you read while walking.

   2 more examples

   Luke staggered blindly down the street, almost bumping into an old woman in black with a shawl drawn close about her head and shoulders[…]

   2010, Anne Baker, Goodbye Liverpool

   Bethany squeaks a barely audible, “Yes,” grabs her purse, and rushes out of the restaurant, tripping over a chair and bumping into another customer on the way.

   2015, Caroline Fardig, That Old Black Magic, Caroline Fardig, →ISBN

2. literallytransitiveTo cause (a thing) to collide with.

   The roads were so slippery that I couldn't stop, and I bumped my car into the car in front of me.

3. idiomatictransitiveTo meet by chance.

   We bumped into each other at the library yesterday.

   1 more example

   “[...] Isaac! You’re being conscripted.” Fay Lie grabs Isaac Sachs’s elbow. “You’ll remember bumping into Luisa Rey the other day?” “I’m one lucky conscript. Hi, Luisa, again.”

   2004, David Mitchell, “Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery”, in Cloud Atlas, →ISBN, page 130

   Synonyms: run into