What does "bump" mean?
A light blow or jolting collision.
Bump
/bʌmp/ intj, name, noun, verb, slang
intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A light blow or jolting collision.
- Grammar: bump is listed as intj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: protuberance, abase, abasement, ability.
- Useful contrasts: avoid, decrease, demote.
- Usage evidence: We tried again to bump off the politician, but couldn't do it.
How to use "bump"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bump" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bump" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bump" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bump" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bump" is acting as intj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "protuberance" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "bump", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A light blow or jolting collision. countable, uncountable
"His car had a tiny bump with a moving bus."
- 2 The breeding call made by the bittern; a boom. countable, uncountable
- 3 an impact (as from a collision) wordnet
- 4 The sound of such a collision. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 5 something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings wordnet
Show 20 more definitions
- 6 A protuberance on a level surface. countable, uncountable
- 7 a lump on the body caused by a blow wordnet
- 8 A swelling on the skin caused by illness or injury. countable, uncountable
"It had upon its brow / A bump as big as a young cockerel's stone."
- 9 One of the protuberances on the cranium which, in phrenology, are associated with distinct faculties or affections of the mind. Also (dated, metonymic) the faculty itself countable, obsolete, uncountable
"the bump of veneration; the bump of acquisitiveness"
- 10 The point, in a race in which boats are spaced apart at the start, at which a boat begins to overtake the boat ahead. countable, uncountable
- 11 The swollen abdomen of a pregnant woman. countable, uncountable
- 12 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. Internet, countable, uncountable
- 13 A temporary increase in a quantity, as shown in a graph. countable, uncountable
"US presidential nominees get a post-convention bump in survey ratings."
- 14 A dose of a drug such as ketamine or cocaine, when snorted recreationally. countable, slang, uncountable
"“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.”"
- 15 A disco dance in which partners rhythmically bump their hips together. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 16 In skipping, a single jump over two consecutive turns of the rope. countable, uncountable
- 17 A coarse cotton fabric. uncountable
- 18 A training match for a fighting dog. countable, uncountable
- 19 The jaw of either of the middle pockets. countable, slang, uncountable
- 20 Music, especially played over speakers at loud volume with strong bass frequency response. US, slang, uncountable
"Call me the juice and you know I'm a stunt; ride in the car with some bump in the trunk."
- 21 A short, self-promotional spot on a radio or television station. US, countable, uncountable
- 22 A reassignment of jobs within an organization (for example, when an existing employee leaves) on the basis of seniority. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 23 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. countable, uncountable
- 24 A minor problem or difficulty. colloquial, countable, uncountable
""I'll try my best, but we still have a few bumps to work out," Ryder muttered."
- 25 A sudden movement of underground strata, preceded by a characteristic sound. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To knock against or run into with a jolt.
"Their car got bumped while they were turning at the junction."
- 2 Of a bittern, to make its characteristic breeding call.
- 3 knock against with force or violence wordnet
- 4 To move up or down by a step; displace.
"I bumped the font size up to make my document easier to read."
- 5 remove or force from a position of dwelling previously occupied wordnet
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 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. Internet
"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."
- 7 to play music at loud volume wordnet
- 8 To suddenly boil, causing movement of the vessel and loss of liquid. physical
"Heat until the liquid bumps, then reduce the heat and continue the boiling for 1½ hours."
- 9 to enjoy some music greatly wordnet
- 10 To move (a booked passenger) to a later flight because of earlier delays or cancellations. transitive
"Easyjet said the compensation package for passengers bumped off flights was 'probably the most flawed piece of European legislation in recent years' […]"
- 11 dance erotically or dance with the pelvis thrust forward wordnet
- 12 To move the time of (a scheduled event). transitive
"A colleague emails with news that her 4:30 meeting got bumped to 3:30."
- 13 come upon, as if by accident; meet with wordnet
- 14 To pick (a lock) with a repeated striking motion that dislodges the pins. transitive
- 15 assign to a lower position; reduce in rank wordnet
- 16 To make a loud, heavy, or hollow noise; to boom. archaic, intransitive
"as a bittern bumps within a reed"
- 17 To spread out material so as to fill any desired number of pages. dated
- 18 To assassinate; to bump off. slang, transitive
"You know about the night the kid bumped Brody?"
- 19 To displace (another employee in an organization) on the basis of seniority. transitive
"Employees with 2 years or more, and less than 8 years plant seniority, may bump a probationary employee."
- 20 To anger, irritate. colloquial, dated
"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?"
- 21 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.
- 22 To play music through a speaker, often loudly and in public. slang
- 23 To encounter and stop, to catch. US, slang
- 24 To move while bumping up and down, as a cart or car does on rough ground. intransitive
"The car bumped over the dirt road."
Intj
- 1 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. Internet
- 2 Alternative form of bump. Internet, alt-of, alternative
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"We tried again to bump off the politician, but couldn't do it."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bump"?
Common synonyms include: protuberance, abase, abasement, ability, advance, aerospace.
How do you use "bump" in a sentence?
We tried again to bump off the politician, but couldn't do it.
How do you pronounce "bump"?
Pronounced /bʌmp/.
Etymology
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”), all probably of imitative origin. 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”). More at bum, bumble. Compare also bomb.
Etymology 2
From Early Modern English; onomatopoeic.