# dump

Pronunciation: say "DUMP" /dʌmp/

## Verb

1. To throw away or get rid of something that is no longer wanted.
   - Simple: To throw something away because you do not want it anymore.
   - _The company dumped its outdated inventory in a landfill rather than pay to store it._
   - _Many families dump perfectly good furniture every time they move._
3. To drop or throw something down roughly, or to unload the contents of a cart by tilting it.
   - Simple: To drop or throw something down in a rough way, or to empty a cart by tipping it.
   - _The truck backed up and dumped a load of gravel onto the driveway._
   - _Workers dump the harvested beets into a hopper at the end of each row._
4. To end a romantic relationship with someone. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To break up with someone you are dating.
   - _She dumped him after three years together and moved across the country._
   - _People who dump a partner over text rarely get a sympathetic hearing._
5. To release something, especially in large amounts and without control or order.
   - Simple: To let out a lot of something all at once, often in a messy way.
   - _Before the emergency landing, the pilot dumped fuel over the open sea._
   - _Spillways dump excess water downstream whenever the reservoir rises too high._
12. To deposit heavy precipitation, especially snow, on a place. *(US)*
   - Simple: To drop a lot of rain or snow on a place in a short time.
   - _A late-season blizzard dumped nearly thirty inches of snow on the mountain passes._
   - _Slow-moving systems can dump a month's worth of rain in a single afternoon._
13. To sell goods below cost or at very low prices.
   - Simple: To sell goods very cheaply, often for less than they cost to make.
   - _Foreign mills were accused of dumping steel on the American market at prices no local plant could match._
   - _Retailers dump unsold inventory at clearance prices after the holidays rather than warehouse it until next year._
15. To copy data wholesale out of a system or device to another location, usually in order to archive it.
   - Simple: To copy all the information from a computer or device so you can save it somewhere else.
   - _Collectors dump the ROMs from vintage cartridges so the games survive after the hardware fails._
   - _The script dumps the entire database to a compressed file every night._
16. In computing, to output the full contents of memory or of a data structure, often as a step in diagnosing a bug.
   - Simple: In computing, to write out everything a program has stored, often to find out why it broke.
   - _Before the fix went in, she dumped the contents of the cache to compare them against the expected values._
   - _Debuggers let you dump a data structure to the console with a single command._
20. Of a surf wave, to slam a swimmer or surfer heavily downward. *(Australia)*
   - Simple: Of a big wave, to throw a swimmer or surfer down hard into the water or sand.
   - _The shore break dumped him onto the sand and knocked the wind out of him._
   - _Keep an eye on the sets; the bigger waves dump surfers right on the bank._

## Noun

2. A site where garbage, ashes, and other refuse are left or disposed of.
   - Simple: A place where people leave garbage and other things they throw away.
   - _Illegal dumps along the river have poisoned the local groundwater._
   - _The city replaced its open dump with a modern landfill._
6. An unpleasant place that looks dirty, shabby, seedy, unfashionable, boring, or depressing. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A place that is dirty, ugly, boring, or sad to look at.
   - _The diner was a dump, but the pancakes were the best in the county._
   - _They turned the old dump of a theater into a thriving music venue._
7. A slang term for an act of defecation, often in the phrase take a dump. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang word for an act of pooping, often used after the verb take.
   - _The dog took a dump right in the middle of the neighbor's lawn._
   - _After three cups of coffee he excused himself to take a dump._
8. A gloomy, dejected state of mind in which a person feels sad and without hope, usually spoken of in the plural.
   - Simple: A sad, dark mood in which you feel low and have no hope.
   - _She had been in the dumps since the move, missing her old friends and the streets she knew._
   - _Nothing his sister tried could lift him out of the dumps after the job fell through._
9. An act of copying out the contents of a system or store of data, or the copy that results.
   - Simple: A copy of all the data in a computer system saved at once, or the act of making one.
   - _Researchers downloaded the full database dump and analyzed every article offline._
   - _Old dumps of the site are kept for a year in case anything needs restoring._
10. A disorganized batch of images posted together on social media.
   - Simple: A group of photos someone posts online all at once without putting them in order.
   - _Her end-of-summer dump mixed concert shots with blurry pictures of her cat._
   - _Instead of one carefully chosen picture, many users now post dumps of a dozen at a time._
11. A mass of things that have been dumped, especially a disordered heap; a mess.
   - Simple: A messy pile of things that someone has dropped or thrown down.
   - _The report was little more than a dump of raw figures with no analysis._
   - _Behind the shed lay a dump of broken tiles, bent nails, and tangled wire._
14. A place where supplies are stored, especially a military store of ammunition or other equipment.
   - Simple: A place where supplies, such as weapons or fuel, are stored, especially by an army.
   - _Engineers blew up the enemy's ammunition dump before retreating across the river._
   - _Supply dumps were set up every twenty miles along the line of advance._
17. In computing, a formatted listing of what a program held in memory, especially one produced automatically when the program fails.
   - Simple: In computing, a printout of everything a program had in memory, often made by itself when it crashes.
   - _The crash left a dump of several gigabytes on the server._
   - _Engineers compared dumps from two failing machines and found the same corrupted value in each._
18. In retail marketing, a temporary display unit stocked with many copies of a single item for sale.
   - Simple: In a store, a temporary stand or box that holds many copies of one product for sale.
   - _Publishers ship a dump with every big release so bookstores can stack copies near the entrance._
   - _The end of each aisle held dumps of discounted soda._
19. In mining, a heap of excavated ore or rock.
   - Simple: In mining, a big pile of rock or ore.
   - _Prospectors sometimes rework an old dump, hoping earlier miners missed the richer ore._
   - _Rain washed minerals out of the dumps and into the creek below the mine._
22. A small coin made from the center punched out of a larger coin, the ring of which was called a holey dollar. *(Australia, Canada)*
   - Simple: In the past, a small coin made from the middle part punched out of a larger coin.
   - _Each silver dollar yielded a ring and a dump, and both passed as money in the colony._
   - _A handful of dumps turned up in a tin box under the floorboards of the old homestead._
23. In Northern England, a deep hole in a riverbed, forming a pool. *(dialectal, Northern England)*
   - Simple: In the north of England, a deep hole in a river bed where the water forms a pool.
   - _Below the weir the river widens into a dump deep enough to lose a fishing rod in._
   - _In a dry summer the dumps are the only places the fish can shelter._

## Noun

21. A fit of absent-mindedness or reverie, in which one takes no notice of one's surroundings. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A state of not noticing anything around you, as if lost in your own thoughts.
24. A mournful strain or tune in music, or, more loosely, any tune. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A sad, slow tune, or any tune at all.
   - _The lute player struck up a dump, and the wedding guests fell quiet._
   - _His notebook held dozens of dumps, slow pieces written for a single viol._
25. An old-fashioned kind of dance. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A kind of dance from the old days.
27. A thick, misshapen piece or lump. *(archaic, UK)*
   - Simple: A thick lump of something with no neat shape.
   - _The sculptor began with an ugly dump of clay the size of a loaf._
   - _She handed round dumps of cheese hacked straight off the wheel._
28. A lead counter used for pitching in the old game of chuck-farthing. *(archaic, UK)*
   - Simple: A small piece of lead used as a counter in an old coin-tossing game called chuck-farthing.
   - _A well-worn dump that flew true was worth more to a chuck-farthing player than any new one._
   - _Whoever landed a dump nearest the mark took the farthings on the ground._

## Verb

26. To knock or thump heavily. *(obsolete, Scotland)*
   - Simple: To hit or knock something with a heavy blow.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A vehicle or vessel, such as a railroad car or a boat, built for dumping refuse or other loads.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–22, 24–26** — From Middle English dumpen, dompen, probably from Old Norse dumpa ("to thump"), which gave Danish dumpe ("to fall suddenly"). Its origin is uncertain; it is possibly imitative of falling, like thump.
**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”).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dump (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).