jump

JUMP/d͡ʒʌmp/

Verbjumps, jumping, jumped

Noun pluraljumps

43 meanings of jump

Practice

1
verbintransitive
To push yourself into the air with your legs, sometimes over something or down from a higher place.
Like a ball bouncing up off the ground: your legs push you up the same way.
The kids jump on the trampoline every afternoon.
Our dog can jump high to catch the ball.
UsageSay jump over a wall or jump into the water.
Similarleap, spring, hop, bound, vault
Note
2
nouncountable
An act of pushing yourself into the air, or of leaping down from a higher place.
With one big jump, he crossed the stream.
The frog made a small jump and landed on the rock.
Similarleap, bound, hop, vault, spring
Note
3
rise sharplyverbfigurativelyintransitive
To go up quickly and by a large amount.
Like a line on a chart that suddenly goes straight up.
Prices jump every year around the holidays.
The number of visitors jumped after the new movie came out.
UsagePrices can jump to a new level or by an amount.
Similarsoar, surge, rocket, leap, spike
Oppositeplunge, plummet, drop, fall
4
verbfigurativelyintransitive
To change your opinion or side quickly and completely.
Voters sometimes jump to the other party after a scandal.
She jumped from supporting the plan to opposing it in a single week.
Similarswitch, shift, swing, flip
5
verbintransitive
To move your body suddenly because something surprises or scares you.
Loud noises always make me jump.
She jumped when the door slammed behind her.
UsageA loud noise can make you jump.
Similarstart (entry), flinch, jerk
6
nouncountable
Something built to jump over or off, like a ramp or a fence.
The kids built a jump out of plywood for their bikes.
He hit the jump too fast and fell off his skateboard.
Similarramp, obstacle
7
verbintransitive
To leave a plane or high place using a parachute.
The soldiers jump from the plane one at a time.
She jumped for the first time from ten thousand feet.
Similarparachute, skydive
8
attack someoneverbtransitive
To attack someone suddenly when they are not expecting it.
Two men jumped him outside the club and took his wallet.
Robbers sometimes jump tourists in the empty side streets at night.
UsagePut the person straight after jump: “They jumped him.”
Similarattack, ambush, assault, waylay
9
cross a gapverbtransitive
To go across the space between two sides or things.
The fire jumped the road and burned the field on the other side.
Sparks can jump the gap between the two wires.
Similarcross, leap, bridge

Less common meanings

10
verbtransitive
To start a car with a dead battery by connecting it to another battery with cables.
Can you jump my car? The battery died overnight.
A neighbor jumped her truck with a set of cables.
UsageSay jump my car or jump the battery. The longer verb is jump-start.
Similarboost
Note
11
head startnounwith on
An early start that puts you ahead of others.
Leaving early gave us a jump on the holiday traffic.
She got the jump on her competitors by launching her store first.
UsageGet the jump on someone: start before them.
Similaredge, lead, advantage
12
cut in lineverbtransitive
To move ahead of other people who are waiting before you.
It's rude to jump the line at the store.
She jumped the line for the ride at the fair.
UsageUse jump the line or jump the queue, with the.
Similarskip, bypass
13
one parachute dropnouncountable
One time when someone leaves a plane or high place with a parachute.
Her first jump from the plane ended with a soft parachute landing.
The skydiving instructor has logged more than a thousand jumps.
Similarskydive, drop, descent
14
run red lightverbtransitive
To drive past a traffic light while it is red instead of stopping.
Never jump a red light, even when the road looks empty.
The driver jumped the light and almost hit a man crossing the street.
UsageYou can say jump a red light or jump the lights.
Similarrun
15
verbtransitive
To make a person, animal, or thing leap into the air.
Riders jump their horses over low rails during training.
He jumped his bike over a big puddle on the way home from school.
16
help from cablesnouncolloquialUSabbreviationellipsis
Short for jump-start. Use it when a dead car battery gets power from another car to start.
My car wouldn't start, so I asked my neighbor for a jump.
Do you have cables? I need a jump.
UsageAsk someone to give you a jump.
Note
17
have sexverbslangtransitive
A rough slang way of saying to have sex with someone.
He joked that he wanted to jump her bones.
She joked that she'd jump him if he ever asked her out.
UsageMost often in jump someone's bones.
Similarbed, bang, screw
Note
18
hop over pieceverbintransitive
In some board games, to make a move where your piece goes over another piece.
In checkers, you can jump over an opponent's piece if the space behind it is empty.
She jumped twice in one turn and captured two pieces.
19
a hop (checkers)nouncountable
A move in a board game where one piece goes over another piece.
He won the game with a double jump.
Her jump over my checker captured my last piece.
20
startled movementnouncountable
A quick movement of your body when something suddenly scares or surprises you.
He gave a jump when the alarm suddenly went off.
The dog gave a little jump when the door slammed.
UsageSay give a jump when a noise scares you.
Similarstart (entry), flinch, jerk, twitch
21
game buttonnoun
The button on a game controller that makes your character leap into the air.
Press jump to get over the pit.
He kept pressing jump, but his character would not clear the gap.
22
nouncountable
A skip from one part of a computer program to another part.
The program makes a jump back to the start when you type the wrong password.
Each jump sends the computer to a different set of instructions.
Similarbranch
Note
23
go to (code)verbintransitive
To skip to a different part of a computer program instead of going step by step.
Like skipping ahead to a different page in a book instead of reading every page in order.
If the password is wrong, the program jumps back to the start.
The code can jump to a different line when something goes wrong.
Similarbranch
Note
24
sprint awayverbintransitive
In bike racing, to speed up suddenly to get away from the other riders.
The cyclist jumped on the final climb and left the pack behind.
Watch him jump when the road starts to climb.
Similarattack, accelerate, surge
Note
25
film cutnounabbreviationclipping
Short for jump cut. A sudden skip between two shots in a film or video.
You can see a jump where the two takes meet.
The vlogger uses a jump after every sentence to keep things fast.
Note
26
verb
To make a tower crane taller by lifting the top and adding a piece at the bottom.
27
verbobsolete
To risk something.
to jump a body with a dangerous physic
c. 1608, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”
28
verb
To weld two metal pieces together end to end.
29
verb
To hit the end of a metal bar to make it thicker.
30
verb
To make a hole in rock with a long metal drill.
31
verbobsolete
To match or agree with something.
It jumps with my humour.
a. 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV
32
verbarchaic
To run away.
33
verb
Of a piece of DNA, to move to a new place on a chromosome.
34
noun
A try at doing something.
35
noun
A break in a rock layer where one side has moved.
36
noun
A place where a row of bricks or stones suddenly changes height.
37
noun
A place where a graph suddenly breaks and starts again higher or lower.
38
noun
A sudden step up in moving water where fast flow slows down.
39
noun
A trip through space faster than light, in stories.
40
noun
A show given on just one night in a town.
41
adverbobsolete
Exactly.
Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch.
c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Hamlet
42
adjectiveobsolete
Exactly right or matching.
Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, / With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch
c. 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”
43
noun
A baggy coat worn by men long ago.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of jump apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English jumpen, meaning to run or jump. It probably came from a Germanic source and may have started as an imitative word (copying a sound).

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

Jump derives from Middle English jumpen, meaning to run or jump. en.wiktionary.org
Jump probably came from a Germanic source. en.wiktionary.org
Jump may have originated as an imitative word. en.wiktionary.org
An imitative word can copy a sound. en.wikipedia.org