dump

DUMP/dʌmp/

Noun pluraldumps

29 meanings of dump

1
verbtransitive
To throw something away because you do not want it anymore.
Just dump those old magazines in the recycling bin.
They dumped the broken chairs behind the garage.
Similardiscard, ditch, scrap, toss, junk
Oppositekeep
2
nouncountable
A place where people leave garbage and other things they throw away.
We took the old mattress to the dump on Saturday.
Seagulls circle above the dump looking for scraps of food.
Similartip, landfill
3
verbtransitive
To drop or throw something down in a rough way, or to empty a cart by tipping it.
She dumped her backpack on the floor and ran upstairs.
Dump the sand right here next to the sandbox.
Similarfling, chuck, heave, hurl, sling
4
verbcolloquialtransitive
To break up with someone you are dating.
He dumped his girlfriend by text message, which was not very kind.
Why did you dump him right before the school dance?
Similarditch, leave, drop, jilt
5
verbtransitive
To let out a lot of something all at once, often in a messy way.
The broken pipe dumped water all over the kitchen floor.
If you open the gate, it will dump all the water out at once.
Similarrelease, discharge, jettison
6
nounslangcountable
A place that is dirty, ugly, boring, or sad to look at.
Our hotel room was a dump, with stains on the carpet and a broken lamp.
I can't wait to move out of this dump and into a nicer apartment.
Similardive, hole, hovel, pigsty
Note
7
nounslangeuphemisticcountable
A slang word for an act of pooping, often used after the verb take.
He said he had to take a dump and disappeared for twenty minutes.
Can we stop at the gas station? I really need to take a dump.
Similarpoop, crap
Note
8
noun
A sad, dark mood in which you feel low and have no hope.
Like a gray, rainy day inside your head.
After the team lost the final, Marco was down in the dumps for a week.
A long walk in the sun usually gets me out of the dumps.
Similardoldrums
Note
9
nouncountable
A copy of all the data in a computer system saved at once, or the act of making one.
The website makes a dump of all its pages every week so people can download them.
Before you change anything, make a dump of the database.
Similarsnapshot, copy, backup, export
Note
10
nouncountable
A group of photos someone posts online all at once without putting them in order.
She posted a dump of twenty photos from her trip to the beach.
Every Sunday he shares a dump of random pictures from his week.

11
nouncountable
A messy pile of things that someone has dropped or thrown down.
Her desk was a dump of papers, cups, and old pens.
The movers left a dump of boxes in the middle of the living room.
Similarheap, pile, jumble, mess
12
verbUStransitive
To drop a lot of rain or snow on a place in a short time.
The storm dumped two feet of snow on the town overnight.
Big clouds like that can dump a lot of rain in just an hour.
Similardrop, deposit, unload
Note
13
verbtransitive
To sell goods very cheaply, often for less than they cost to make.
The store dumped its winter coats for ten dollars each in April.
Some companies dump extra products in other countries at very low prices.
Similarunload, offload
14
nouncountable
A place where supplies, such as weapons or fuel, are stored, especially by an army.
The soldiers kept fuel and food in a dump behind the hill.
An old ammunition dump was found in the woods near the village.
Similardepot, store, stockpile, cache
15
verbtransitive
To copy all the information from a computer or device so you can save it somewhere else.
He dumped the old phone's photos onto a hard drive before selling it.
You can dump the game from the cartridge and play it on your computer.
Similarexport, extract, copy, archive
Note
16
verbtransitive
In computing, to write out everything a program has stored, often to find out why it broke.
The program dumps its memory to a file when it crashes.
You can dump the whole table to see what went wrong.
Similarprint, output
Note
17
nouncountable
In computing, a printout of everything a program had in memory, often made by itself when it crashes.
The dump showed that the program ran out of memory.
After the app crashed, she sent the dump to the developers to help them find the bug.
Note
18
nouncountable
In a store, a temporary stand or box that holds many copies of one product for sale.
The store put a cardboard dump of the new paperback right by the door.
Shoppers grabbed candy bars from the dumps near the checkout.
Note
19
nouncountable
In mining, a big pile of rock or ore.
The miners left a huge dump of rock outside the tunnel.
Old dumps from the gold mine still dot the hillside.
Similartip, heap
Note
20
verbAustraliatransitive
Of a big wave, to throw a swimmer or surfer down hard into the water or sand.
A big wave dumped me and I came up coughing.
Waves here can dump you hard, so swim between the flags.
Similarslam, throw, hurl
Note
21
nounobsolete
A state of not noticing anything around you, as if lost in your own thoughts.
Note
22
nounhistoricalAustraliaCanadacountable
In the past, a small coin made from the middle part punched out of a larger coin.
The museum has a dump from 1813 next to the holey dollar it was punched from.
Collectors pay a lot for dumps in good condition.
Note
23
noundialectalNorthern Englandcountable
In the north of England, a deep hole in a river bed where the water forms a pool.
The lads swam in the dump below the old mill.
Trout like to lie in the dumps where the beck runs deep.
Similarpool
Note
24
nounobsolete
A sad, slow tune, or any tune at all.
The old man hummed a dump for his lost friend.
O, play me some merry dump to comfort me.
c. 1591, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”Here, dump means a tune, usually a sad, slow one.
Note
25
nounobsolete
A kind of dance from the old days.
Note
26
verbobsoleteScotlandtransitive
To hit or knock something with a heavy blow.
Note
27
nounarchaicUK
A thick lump of something with no neat shape.
He tore off a dump of bread and dipped it in the soup.
The cook cut the dough into rough dumps and dropped them into the pot.
Note
28
nounarchaicUK
A small piece of lead used as a counter in an old coin-tossing game called chuck-farthing.
Each boy kept a dump in his pocket for a game of chuck-farthing after school.
The capons were leaden representations of cocks and hens pitched at by leaden dumps.
1825, William Hone, The Every Day BookHere, dumps means flat lead pieces thrown in an old pitching game.
Note
29
noun
A railroad car or a boat built to tip out and dump trash or other loads.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–22, 24–26

It probably comes from an Old Norse word meaning "to thump". It may copy the sound of something falling.

Meaning 23

Cognate with Scots dump (“hole in the ground”), Norwegian dump (“a depression or hole in the ground”), German Low German dumpen (“to submerge”), Dutch dompen (“to dip, sink, submerge”).