pump

Pluralpumps

Formspumps, pumping, pumped

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A device that moves or compresses a liquid or gas.

   The basement flooded when the sump pump failed during the storm.

   Engineers installed pumps to circulate coolant through the reactor.

   Note

   The mechanical sense that the verbs and figures of speech grow from. Its origin is a little murky: Middle English pumpe, perhaps from Middle Dutch pompe, "pipe, water conduit", or Middle Low German pumpe, and probably imitative in the end. Dutch pompen, German pumpen and Spanish bomba are its relatives. None of this history belongs to the shoe words, which come from a separate, obscure source.

2. 2
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To work a pump, or to raise, draw, or force water or another liquid with one.

   Crews pump millions of gallons of seawater into the ballast tanks each day.

   The old windmill pumped steadily all afternoon, drawing water for the cattle.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To fill something with air by means of a pump; to inflate it.

   Lifeguards pump the rescue rafts each morning before the beach opens.

   She pumped the air mattress while the kids set up the tent.

   Similarinflate

   Oppositedeflate

   Note

   Usually followed by up: you pump up an air bed, and you pump up the tires at a service station. With the particle, the verb takes its object either before or after up. The bare verb also works (pump the raft), but pump up is the everyday phrasing for inflating something.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A device that dispenses a liquid or gas for sale, particularly fuel at a gas station.

   The station replaced its old pumps with models that accept contactless payment.

   She swiped her card at the pump and started filling the tank.

   Note

   Retail fuel prices are spoken of as prices "at the pump", and the phrase works as shorthand for what drivers actually pay. Thomas L. Friedman uses it in 2025, explaining how lifting sanctions might "drive down the price of gasoline at the pump." In that phrase the noun stands less for the machine than for the moment of buying.

5. 5
   nounCanadaUScountable

   A women's shoe with a fairly high heel and a low-cut front that leaves the instep bare, especially a stiletto.

   Classic pumps in a neutral color work with almost any office outfit.

   She kicked off one pump under her desk during the long meeting.

   Note

   The North American dress shoe with an open instep, which British English calls a court shoe. That makes the word a transatlantic trap: a British reader may picture the canvas gym shoe instead. When writing for both audiences, court shoe or heeled pump avoids confusion. The stiletto is its highest, thinnest version.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A single stroke or instance of the action of a pump, or any similar pumping motion.

   Two pumps of the inhaler eased her breathing within minutes.

   Each pump of the bellows sent sparks flying from the coals.

   Similarstroke, puff, squeeze

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To inject or pour something into someone or something, in a manner resembling the action of a pump.

   The government pumped billions into the failing banks during the crisis.

   Stadium speakers pump crowd noise into the arena during practice sessions.

   Similarinject, pour, funnel, channel, feed

   Oppositewithdraw, drain

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   To question someone persistently in order to get something out of them, especially information.

   Detectives pumped the witness for hours but learned nothing new.

   Rival executives will pump former employees for anything about the launch.

   Similarinterrogate, grill

   Note

   Its usual frame is pump someone for something, as in pumping her for information, or Thomas Otway's "pump not me for politics" in Venice Preserv'd (1682). The questioning is often sly rather than open. In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the narrator only gradually realizes that a sociable man is pumping him. Grill and interrogate are blunter; this verb suits coaxing that passes for conversation.

9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To move something rhythmically up and down or back and forth, like the motion of a pump.

   Cyclists pump their legs hardest on the final climb.

   He pumped the brake pedal gently to keep the car from skidding.

10. 10
    verbtransitive

    To shake someone's hand vigorously, moving it up and down with enthusiasm.

    The mayor pumped every hand in the room before taking the stage.

    Recruiters pump your hand and promise the world at every job fair.

    Similarshake, wring

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