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jump the gun

idiom

Formsjumps the gun, jumping the gun, jumped the gun

3 meanings of jump the gun

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  1. 1
    idiomintransitive
    To act or begin something too soon, often without enough thought or caution.

    Like a cook plating dinner before the guests have arrived.

    The committee jumped the gun by publishing the results before the review was complete.

    Investors who jump the gun on rumors often regret it later.

    Note

    Here the starting line is gone and only the impatience remains. The image of the racing sense is carried into journalism and politics. The phrase often measures how early someone acted: Time in 1934 has Walter Winchell jump the gun "a full two weeks" by announcing a Pulitzer winner from advance press releases. The premature act usually follows in a by-phrase, as in jumped the gun by announcing.

  2. 2
    idiomintransitive
    To leave the starting line early in a race, setting off before the gun is fired.

    The sprinter jumped the gun and was disqualified from the final.

    Nervous athletes sometimes jump the gun at the roar of the crowd.

    Note

    The literal sense that the figurative uses grow from. The gun is the starter's pistol, and to jump it is to leave the blocks before it fires. Officials call this a false start, and it can mean disqualification. Only jump changes form (jumped the gun, jumping the gun), while the gun stays fixed. Time in 1961 has an overanxious opponent jump the gun while Wilma Rudolph started perfectly.

  3. 3
    idiomintransitive
    To trade securities on the basis of information that has not yet been made public.

    The broker jumped the gun, trading on a leaked earnings report before its release.

    Regulators investigate anyone who appears to jump the gun on confidential deal news.

    Note

    Finance narrows the impatience to one act: buying or selling before information reaches the market. The advantage comes from knowing what others cannot yet know, so this amounts to trading on inside information, and the phrase accuses rather than teases. In ordinary business talk, someone who jumps the gun is usually just hasty, as in the general "too soon" meaning. Context decides which charge is meant.

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