From Middle English jumpen (“to walk quickly, run, jump”), probably of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gumpōną ~ *gumbōną (“to hop, skip, bounce”), an iterative verb. The OED suggests an imitative origin. Related to jumble. In the sense “to propel oneself” it displaced leap partially and spring largely. Cognates Cognate with German Low German jumpen (“to jump”), archaic German gumpen (“to jump, hop, bounce”), dialectal German gampen (“to hop”), Alemannic German gumpe (“to leap, jump”), Walser dialect kumpu, Old Norse gopta (“to jump; make jump”) Danish gumpe (“to jolt”), Swedish gumpa (“to jump”), Danish gimpe (“to move up and down”), Middle English jumpren, jumbren (“to mix, jumble”).
To propel oneself rapidly upward, downward and/or in any horizontal direction such that momentum causes the body to become airborne.
The boy jumped over a fence.
Kangaroos are known for their ability to jump high.
2 more examples
Not the worst of the three but jumps twelve foot and a half by the square.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:
Parkour – often referred to as freerunning – entails creatively moving through an urban environment: flipping, jumping and vaulting across various obstacles.2022 June 16, Issy Ronald, “Meet the parkour athletes defying fear and gravity at Red Bull Art of Motion”, in CNN, archived from the original on 26 Jun 2022:
2
To cause oneself to leave an elevated location and fall downward.
She is going to jump from the diving board.
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To pass by means of a spring or leap; to overleap.
to jump a stream
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To employ a parachute to leave an aircraft or elevated location.
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To jerk the body involuntarily in response to a sudden or unexpected stimulus.
That balloon popping made me jump.
He jumped when he looked up to see a man standing before him.
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Figuratively To increase sharply, to rise, to shoot up.
Share prices jumped by 10% after the company announced record profits.
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To employ a move in certain board games where one game piece is moved from one legal position to another passing over the position of another piece.
The player's knight jumped the opponent's bishop.
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To move to a position (in a queue/line) that is further forward.
I hate it when people jump the queue.
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To pass (a traffic light) when it is indicating that one should stop.
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To attack suddenly and violently.
The hoodlum jumped a woman in the alley.
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Slang To engage in sexual intercourse with (a person).
Harold: How is Sarah? I don't want to jump her while she's on the rag.1983, The Big Chill:
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To cause to jump.
The rider jumped the horse over the fence.
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To move the distance between two opposing subjects.
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To increase the height of a tower crane by inserting a section at the base of the tower and jacking up everything above it.
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Cycling, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To increase speed aggressively and without warning.
to jump a body with a dangerous physicc. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
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Arts, Crafts, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Smithwork To join by a buttweld.
To jump-start a car or other vehicle with a dead battery, as with jumper cables.
[Someone] and Mr. Benfield were at the corner of Elm and Walton Streets when they were approached by Mr. Gray, who asked for help to jump his car. When informed they did not have jumper cables, Mr. Gray asked them to take him to get some.2000, United States. Employees' Compensation Appeals Board, Decisions of the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board: Index digest, page 511:
[…] his wife, who was at home with their children, would drive to school to jump his car; both would drive home;[…]2015 January 30, Robert M. Morgan, Janet Turner Parish, George Deitz, Handbook on Research in Relationship Marketing, Edward Elgar Publishing, →ISBN, page 250:
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Obsolete To coincide; to agree; to accord; to tally; followed by with.
It jumps with my humour.a. 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, act I, scene ii:
The fortune of the dice jumpeth not commonly with the fortune of war.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 18:
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Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences To start executing code from a different location, rather than following the program counter.
When this section is completed, the code generally jumps back to the Exit Section, and the procedure is closed.2008, Garry Robinson, Real World Microsoft Access Database Protection and Security:
“It's all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!” Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts.1891, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Red-Headed League:
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Figuratively To shift one's position or attitude, especially suddenly and significantly.
The administration is jumping back from that message.
Think hard before you jump towards a particular solution.
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Biology, Natural sciencesOf DNA To switch locations on chromosomes.
From Middle English jumpen (“to walk quickly, run, jump”), probably of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gumpōną ~ *gumbōną (“to hop, skip, bounce”), an iterative verb. The OED suggests an imitative origin. Related to jumble. In the sense “to propel oneself” it displaced leap partially and spring largely. Cognates Cognate with German Low German jumpen (“to jump”), archaic German gumpen (“to jump, hop, bounce”), dialectal German gampen (“to hop”), Alemannic German gumpe (“to leap, jump”), Walser dialect kumpu, Old Norse gopta (“to jump; make jump”) Danish gumpe (“to jolt”), Swedish gumpa (“to jump”), Danish gimpe (“to move up and down”), Middle English jumpren, jumbren (“to mix, jumble”).
To advance by jumps.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:
2
An effort; an attempt; a venture.
Our fortune lies / Upon this jump.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene viii]:
Architecture An abrupt interruption of level in a piece of brickwork or masonry.
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An instance of propelling oneself upwards.
The boy took a skip and a jump down the lane.
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An object which causes one to jump; a ramp.
The skier flew off the jump and landed perfectly.
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An instance of causing oneself to fall from an elevated location.
There were a couple of jumps from the bridge.
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An instance of employing a parachute to leave an aircraft or elevated location.
She was terrified before the jump, but was thrilled to be skydiving.
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An instance of reacting to a sudden stimulus by jerking the body.
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A jumping move in a board game.
the knight's jump in chess
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A button (of a joypad, joystick or similar device) used to make a video game character jump (propel itself upwards).
Press jump to start.
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Equestrianism, Hobbies, Horses, Lifestyle, Pets, Sports An obstacle that forms part of a showjumping course, and that the horse has to jump over cleanly.
Heartless managed the scale the first jump but fell over the second.
He got a jump on the day because he had laid out everything the night before.
Their research department gave them the jump on the competition.
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Mathematics, Sciences A discontinuity in the graph of a function, where the function is continuous in a punctured interval of the discontinuity.
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Geography, Hydrodynamics, Hydrology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics An abrupt increase in the height of the surface of a flowing liquid at the location where the flow transitions from supercritical to subcritical, involving an abrupt reduction in flow speed and increase in turbulence.
the number of serious offences in England and Wales involving a knife or sharp object recorded in the year ending March 2024 was 54 percent higher – a jump of nearly 22,000 cases – than the figure for 2016.2025 November 3, Alex Kozul-Wright and News Agencies, “UK train stabbing attack – how it unfolded and what we know now”, in Aljazeera:
From Middle English jumpen (“to walk quickly, run, jump”), probably of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gumpōną ~ *gumbōną (“to hop, skip, bounce”), an iterative verb. The OED suggests an imitative origin. Related to jumble. In the sense “to propel oneself” it displaced leap partially and spring largely. Cognates Cognate with German Low German jumpen (“to jump”), archaic German gumpen (“to jump, hop, bounce”), dialectal German gampen (“to hop”), Alemannic German gumpe (“to leap, jump”), Walser dialect kumpu, Old Norse gopta (“to jump; make jump”) Danish gumpe (“to jolt”), Swedish gumpa (“to jump”), Danish gimpe (“to move up and down”), Middle English jumpren, jumbren (“to mix, jumble”).
Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch.c. 1599–1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 1, scene 1, lines 64–65:
From Middle English jumpen (“to walk quickly, run, jump”), probably of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gumpōną ~ *gumbōną (“to hop, skip, bounce”), an iterative verb. The OED suggests an imitative origin. Related to jumble. In the sense “to propel oneself” it displaced leap partially and spring largely. Cognates Cognate with German Low German jumpen (“to jump”), archaic German gumpen (“to jump, hop, bounce”), dialectal German gampen (“to hop”), Alemannic German gumpe (“to leap, jump”), Walser dialect kumpu, Old Norse gopta (“to jump; make jump”) Danish gumpe (“to jolt”), Swedish gumpa (“to jump”), Danish gimpe (“to move up and down”), Middle English jumpren, jumbren (“to mix, jumble”).
jump names1640, Ben Jonson, An Execration Upon Vulcan:
Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, / With martial stalk hath he gone by our watchc. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
jump
noun
Etymology Compare French jupe (“a long petticoat, a skirt”) and English jupon.