bump

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To hit something accidentally, usually with a knock

   My car bumped into the tree in the dark.

2. 2
   noun

   A sudden knock or jolt from hitting something

   The bump threw me off my bicycle.

3. 3
   noun

   A small raised swelling on the skin or a surface

   She had a painful bump on her forehead.

4. 4
   verb

   To meet someone by chance

   I bumped into an old friend at the store.

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.

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