What does "jump" mean?
The act of jumping; a leap; a spring; a bound.
Jump
/d͡ʒʌmp/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The act of jumping; a leap; a spring; a bound.
- Grammar: jump is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: leap, startle, abandon, abrupt spike.
- Useful contrasts: continuity, crawl, decline.
- Usage evidence: I'd jump through hoops for you.
How to use "jump"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "jump" 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 "jump" 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 "jump" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "jump" 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 "jump" is acting as adj, adv, 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 "leap" 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 "jump", 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 The act of jumping; a leap; a spring; a bound.
"To advance by jumps."
- 2 A kind of loose jacket for men.
- 3 the act of jumping; propelling yourself off the ground wordnet
- 4 An effort; an attempt; a venture.
"Our fortune lies / Upon this jump."
- 5 descent with a parachute wordnet
Show 23 more definitions
- 6 A dislocation in a stratum; a fault.
- 7 a sudden involuntary movement wordnet
- 8 An abrupt interruption of level in a piece of brickwork or masonry.
- 9 (film) an abrupt transition from one scene to another wordnet
- 10 An instance of propelling oneself upwards.
"The boy took a skip and a jump down the lane."
- 11 an abrupt transition wordnet
- 12 An object which causes one to jump; a ramp.
"The skier flew off the jump and landed perfectly."
- 13 a sudden and decisive increase wordnet
- 14 An instance of causing oneself to fall from an elevated location.
"There were a couple of jumps from the bridge."
- 15 An instance of employing a parachute to leave an aircraft or elevated location.
"She was terrified before the jump, but was thrilled to be skydiving."
- 16 An instance of reacting to a sudden stimulus by jerking the body.
- 17 A jumping move in a board game.
"the knight's jump in chess"
- 18 A button (of a joypad, joystick or similar device) used to make a video game character jump (propel itself upwards).
"Press jump to start."
- 19 An obstacle that forms part of a showjumping course, and that the horse has to jump over cleanly.
"Heartless managed the scale the first jump but fell over the second."
- 20 An early start or an advantage. with-on
"He got a jump on the day because he had laid out everything the night before."
- 21 A discontinuity in the graph of a function, where the function is continuous in a punctured interval of the discontinuity.
- 22 An abrupt increase in the height of the surface of a flowing liquid at the location where the flow transitions from supercritical to subcritical, involving an abrupt reduction in flow speed and increase in turbulence.
- 23 Any abrupt increase; a sudden rise; a hike slang
"the number of serious offences in England and Wales involving a knife or sharp object recorded in the year ending March 2024 was 54 percent higher – a jump of nearly 22,000 cases – than the figure for 2016."
- 24 An instance of faster-than-light travel, not observable from ordinary space.
- 25 A change of the path of execution to a different location.
- 26 Ellipsis of jump-start. US, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, informal
"My car won't start. Could you give me a jump?"
- 27 Clipping of jump cut. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
- 28 Synonym of one-night stand (“single evening's performance”).
"Next jump will be at the Chicago Theater, Chicago."
Verb
- 1 To propel oneself rapidly upward, downward and/or in any horizontal direction such that momentum causes the body to become airborne. intransitive
"The boy jumped over a fence."
- 2 go back and forth; swing back and forth between two states or conditions wordnet
- 3 To cause oneself to leave an elevated location and fall downward. intransitive
"She is going to jump from the diving board."
- 4 rise in rank or status wordnet
- 5 To pass by means of a spring or leap; to overleap. transitive
"to jump a stream"
Show 36 more definitions
- 6 increase suddenly and significantly wordnet
- 7 To employ a parachute to leave an aircraft or elevated location. intransitive
- 8 pass abruptly from one state or topic to another wordnet
- 9 To react to a sudden, often unexpected, stimulus (such as a sharp prick or a loud sound) by jerking the body violently. intransitive
"The sudden sharp sound made me jump."
- 10 bypass wordnet
- 11 To increase sharply, to rise, to shoot up. figuratively, intransitive
"Share prices jumped by 10% after the company announced record profits."
- 12 enter eagerly into wordnet
- 13 To employ a move in certain board games where one game piece is moved from one legal position to another passing over the position of another piece. intransitive
"The player's knight jumped the opponent's bishop."
- 14 make a sudden physical attack on wordnet
- 15 To move to a position (in a queue/line) that is further forward. transitive
"I hate it when people jump the queue."
- 16 start (a car engine whose battery is dead) by connecting it to another car's battery wordnet
- 17 To pass (a traffic light) when it is indicating that one should stop. transitive
- 18 move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm wordnet
- 19 To attack suddenly and violently. transitive
"The hoodlum jumped a woman in the alley."
- 20 move forward by leaps and bounds wordnet
- 21 To engage in sexual intercourse with (a person). slang, transitive
"Harold: How is Sarah? I don't want to jump her while she's on the rag."
- 22 cause to jump or leap wordnet
- 23 To cause to jump. transitive
"The rider jumped the horse over the fence."
- 24 jump from an airplane and descend with a parachute wordnet
- 25 To move the distance between two opposing subjects. transitive
- 26 run off or leave the rails wordnet
- 27 To increase the height of a tower crane by inserting a section at the base of the tower and jacking up everything above it. transitive
- 28 jump down from an elevated point wordnet
- 29 To increase speed aggressively and without warning. intransitive
- 30 be highly noticeable wordnet
- 31 To expose to danger; to risk; to hazard. obsolete, transitive
"to jump a body with a dangerous physic"
- 32 To join by a buttweld. transitive
- 33 To thicken or enlarge by endwise blows; to upset.
- 34 To bore with a jumper.
- 35 To jump-start a car or other vehicle with a dead battery, as with jumper cables.
"[Someone] and Mr. Benfield were at the corner of Elm and Walton Streets when they were approached by Mr. Gray, who asked for help to jump his car. When informed they did not have jumper cables, Mr. Gray asked them to take him to get some."
- 36 To coincide; to agree; to accord; to tally; followed by with. obsolete
"It jumps with my humour."
- 37 To start executing code from a different location, rather than following the program counter. intransitive
"When this section is completed, the code generally jumps back to the Exit Section, and the procedure is closed."
- 38 To flee; to make one's escape. archaic, intransitive, slang
"“It's all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!” Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts."
- 39 To shift one's position or attitude, especially suddenly and significantly. figuratively, intransitive
"The administration is jumping back from that message."
- 40 To switch locations on chromosomes. intransitive
- 41 To commit suicide. intransitive, slang
Adjective
- 1 Exact; matched; fitting; precise. obsolete
"jump names"
Adverb
- 1 Exactly; precisely not-comparable, obsolete
"Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"I'd jump through hoops for you."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "jump"?
Common synonyms include: leap, startle, abandon, abrupt spike, abscond, absquatulate.
How do you use "jump" in a sentence?
I'd jump through hoops for you.
How do you pronounce "jump"?
Pronounced /d͡ʒʌmp/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English jumpen (“to walk quickly, run, jump”), probably of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gumpōną ~ *gumbōną (“to hop, skip, bounce”), an iterative verb. The OED suggests an imitative origin. Related to jumble. In the sense “to propel oneself” it displaced leap partially and spring largely. Cognates Cognate with German Low German jumpen (“to jump”), archaic German gumpen (“to jump, hop, bounce”), dialectal German gampen (“to hop”), Alemannic German gumpe (“to leap, jump”), Walser dialect kumpu, Old Norse gopta (“to jump; make jump”) Danish gumpe (“to jolt”), Swedish gumpa (“to jump”), Danish gimpe (“to move up and down”), Middle English jumpren, jumbren (“to mix, jumble”).
Etymology 2
Compare French jupe (“a long petticoat, a skirt”) and English jupon.