jettison

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to drop or throw something, as from a ship or airplane

   We decided to jettison the fish we caught yesterday, since we forgot to refrigerate them.

2. 2
   verb

   to throw away something causing an unnecessary encumbrance

   It's time to jettison those outdated ideas.

3. 3
   verb

   To eject from a boat, submarine, aircraft, spaceship or hot-air balloon, so as to lighten the load.

   The ballooners had to jettison all of their sand bags to make it over the final hill.

From Anglo-Norman getteson, from Old French getaison, from geter, jeter (modern French: would be *jetaison like pendaison); possibly from a Vulgar Latin *iectātiō, from *iectātus < iectāre, from Latin iactō. Doublet of jetsam.

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