Etymology From Middle English dumpen, dompen, probably from Old Norse dumpa (“to thump”) (whence Danish dumpe (“to fall suddenly”)), of uncertain origin, possibly imitative of falling, similar to thump.
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A formatted listing of the contents of program storage, especially when produced automatically by a failing program.
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A storage place for supplies, especially military.
an ammo dump
a munitions dump
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Slang An unpleasant, dirty, disreputable, unfashionable, boring, or depressing looking place.
This place looks like a dump.
Don't feel bad about moving away from this dump.
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"Okay," he said. "We'll check out of this dump tomorrow."1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 184:
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Euphemistic, Often, Slang, With the verb "take" An act of defecation; a defecating.
I have to take a dump.
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Plural normally A sad, gloomy state of the mind; sadness; melancholy; despondency.
[…] doleful dumps the mind oppress […]c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
[…] I was musing in the midst of my dumps […]1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC:
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March slowly on in solemn dump […]1663 (indicated as 1664), [Samuel Butler], “The Second Part of Hudibras”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 228:
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Absence of mind; reverie.
They see not what passes before their eyes; hear not the audible discourse of the company; and when by any strong application to them they are roused a little, they are like men brought to themselves from some remote region […]. The shame that such dumps cause to well-bred people, when it carries them away from the company, where they should bear a part of the conversation, is a sufficient argument that it is a fault in the conduct of our understanding, not to have that power over it as to make use of it to those purposes, and on those occasions, wherein we have need of its assistance.a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC, § 45, page 125:
Obsolete A melancholy strain or tune in music; any tune.
Tune a deploring dump […]c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
O, play me some merry dump to comfort me.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
Australia, Canada, Historical A small coin made by punching a hole in a larger coin (called a holey dollar).
Basically, to overcome an acute shortage of money in 1813, Governor Lachlan Macquarie bought silver dollars from Spain and then punched the centres out, thereby producing two coins - the ‘holey dollar’ (worth five shillings) and the ‘dump’ (worth one shilling and threepence). Talk about creating money out of nothing—the original silver dollar only cost five shillings! The holey dollar and the dump have been adopted as the symbol for the Macquarie Bank in Australia.2002, Paul Swan, Maths Investigations, page 66:
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Business, Marketing A temporary display case that holds many copies of an item being sold.
The back of this display is constructed of a double row of cans which are interlocking. The double row is significant because it provides a source of stock to replenish the dump which will be located in the base of the stand.1958, Milton Alexander, Display ideas for super markets, page 211:
Mass displays to move goods in bulk are dotted here and there throughout the store, particularly at the ends of the gondolas, and considerable use is made of dump displays.1959, Agenda: Co-operative Management Magazine - Volumes 7-8, page 68:
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Although they may have a lot of clutter in promotional cardboard dump displays, that factor is likely to change.1985, Product Marketing for Beauty Industry Retailers & Manufacturers:
I remember that Bill made a little cardboard dump, with boots and a whip, for the bookstore displays, and the people in the chain stores were so outraged by this dump they threw it in the trash.1996, Anne Rice, Michael Riley, Interview with Anne Rice, page 76:
Etymology From Middle English dumpen, dompen, probably from Old Norse dumpa (“to thump”) (whence Danish dumpe (“to fall suddenly”)), of uncertain origin, possibly imitative of falling, similar to thump.
To release, especially in large quantities and chaotic manner.
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To discard; to get rid of something one no longer wants.
The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.[…]It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped.2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
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To sell below cost or very cheaply; to engage in dumping.
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Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To copy (data) from a system to another place or system, usually in order to archive it.
to dump the ROM from a rare Nintendo game cartridge
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Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To output the contents of storage or a data structure, often in order to diagnose a bug.
UK, Archaic A lead counter used in the game of chuck-farthing.
The capons were leaden representations of cocks and hens pitched at by leaden dumps.1825, William Hone, The Every Day Book:
dump
noun
Etymology Cognate with Scots dump (“hole in the ground”), Norwegian dump (“a depression or hole in the ground”), German Low German dumpen (“to submerge”), Dutch dompen (“to dip, sink, submerge”).