jump

I UK [dʒʌmp] / US verb
Word forms "jump":
present tense I/you/we/they jump he/she/it jumps present participle jumping past tense jumped past participle jumped
***

1) [intransitive] to move your body off the ground using your legs

You'll have to jump if you want to catch it.

jump about/around:

I had to jump around a bit to get warm.

jump up:

The cat jumped up onto my lap.

jump up and down:

The children were all jumping up and down and cheering.

a) [intransitive/transitive] to move your body over something by pushing yourself off the ground using your legs

Tanya jumped the fence and walked across the field.

jump over:

I jumped over the wall.

b) [intransitive] to push yourself, or to let yourself drop, from a very high place

jump from/out of/off:

They jump from the plane at about eight thousand feet.

I grabbed my son and jumped out of the window.

c) [intransitive] to push yourself, or to let yourself drop, from a place that is a short distance above the ground

jump down:

Don't jump down the stairs!

jump from/off:

He jumped from his horse.

2) [intransitive] to move somewhere very suddenly

jump into/onto/to:

Ella jumped into the car and drove off at high speed.

3) [intransitive] to get a shock and suddenly move your body slightly because of this. If you jump out of your skin, you get a very big shock

make someone jump:

The noise made her jump.

a) if your heart jumps, it suddenly feels as if it is not beating regularly, for example because you are frightened or excited

When he talked to me, I felt my heart jump.

b) if an object jumps, it moves suddenly

He banged the table with his fist and the glasses jumped.

4) [intransitive] to increase or improve suddenly by a large amount

Profits jumped by 15% last year.

Williams jumped from 39th to 5th in the world rankings.

5)

a) [intransitive] to move quickly from one idea to another, in a way that is confusing or wrong

jump from/to/back:

The conversation suddenly jumped back to what had happened yesterday.

jump to conclusions (= make a decision too quickly without knowing all the facts):

We shouldn't jump to conclusions about the cause of the problem.

b) [intransitive/transitive] to move from one part of something to another part and miss something

I'm sorry, I've jumped a paragraph.

jump to:

Let's now jump to page 10.

6) [intransitive] informal to immediately do what someone tells you to do although you do not want to do it

He gives the orders and I'm expected to jump.

7) jump or jump on

[transitive] informal to attack someone physically

He was jumped by a gang of teenagers.

8) [intransitive] to work in a way that is not continuous or smooth

The screen (= the images on the screen) on this computer keeps jumping.

9) [intransitive/transitive] very informal to have sex with someone, or to try to have sex with them

10) [transitive] American to jump-start a car

•

- jump down someone's throat

- jump for joy

- jump the gun

- jump a light

- jump the queue

- jump ship

- jump to it

- jump to your feet

Phrasal verbs:

- jump at

- jump in

- jump into

- jump off

- jump on

- jump out at

- jump up

See:

bail I

II UK [dʒʌmp] / US noun [countable]
Word forms "jump":
singular jump plural jumps
*

1) a movement in which you jump off the ground

a) a movement in which you jump from a high place

a parachute/bungee jump

b) the distance that you travel when you jump in a competition

She won with a jump of 6.96 metres.

2) a sudden movement that you make when you get a shock

Sylvia woke with a jump.

3) a structure that a horse or runner jumps over

The horse fell at the first jump.

4) a sudden increase

jump in:

There has been a 25% jump in profits.

5) a big difference or change

There's a big jump from Grade Two to Grade Four.

•

be/stay one jump ahead (of someone) — to do something before someone else or more successfully than someone else

He always seems to be one jump ahead of me.

have/get the jump on someone — informal to be in a stronger position than someone else

The Japanese, once again, may be embarrassing the US manufacturers by getting the jump on them.

take a (running) jump — spoken used for telling someone rudely to go away