bump meaning

bump as a verb

1. knock against with force or violence
   • My car bumped into the tree

   Synonyms: knock

   Type of: hit

   Related forms: bumper

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

   Synonyms: find, happen, chance, encounter

3. dance erotically or dance with the pelvis thrust forward
   • bump and grind

   Type of: dance

4. assign to a lower position; reduce in rank
   • She was demoted because she always speaks up
   • He was broken down to Sergeant

   Synonyms: demote, relegate, break, kick downstairs

   Type of: delegate

   Kinds: sideline, reduce

5. remove or force from a position of dwelling previously occupied
   • The new employee dislodged her by moving into her office space

   Synonyms: dislodge

   Type of: displace

   Kinds: throw

bump as a noun

1. a lump on the body caused by a blow

   Type of: injury

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

   Synonyms: bulge, hump, swelling, gibbosity, gibbousness, jut, prominence, protuberance, protrusion, extrusion, excrescence

   Type of: projection

   Kinds: frontal eminence, occipital protuberance, belly, caput, mogul, nub, snag, wart

3. an impact (as from a collision)
   • the bump threw him off the bicycle

   Synonyms: blow

   Type of: impact

   Kinds: jolt, concussion, rap, knock, pounding, sideswipe, slap

   Related forms: bumpy

How to pronounce bump

bump is pronounced /bʌmp/ in British English and /bʌmp/ in American English. It has 1 syllable.

Words that rhyme with bump

• jump
• lump
• pump
• slump
• stump
• thump
• dump
• clump
• rump
• plump
• hump
• trump