bump
/bʌmp/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.98 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "His car had a tiny bump with a moving bus."
- "He heard a loud bump and saw the front part of his car was broken and the driver of the other car was running to apologise."
- "He heard bumps in the night."
- "I held my fist up, and he gave me a bump before leaving."
- "I had a bump last time I drove into the city."
- "Did you see the bump he took last night?"
Etymology
From Early Modern English bump (“a shock, blow from a collision”), probably of North Germanic origin; compare Danish bump (“a thump”), Danish bumpe (“to thump”), Old Danish bumpe (“to strike with a clenched fist”), all probably of imitative origin. Apparently related to Middle English bumben, bummen (“to make a hollow noise”), Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”), German Low German bumsen (“to bump, push”), German bummen (“to hum, buzz”), Icelandic bumba (“drum”). More at bum, bumble. Compare also bomb.
Word Breakdown
- Root: -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bʌmp/
Usage
- Countable
- Informal
- Slang
- Uncountable
- Obsolete
- Dated
- Colloquial
- American usage