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bump

Definition

  • noun: a relatively abrupt convexity or protuberance on a surface
  • verb: to hit (something, such as part of your body) against an object in a sudden and forceful way
  • verb: to strike or knock with force or violence
  • often used figuratively in U.S. English
  • synonyms: thump, protuberance, boom

Examples

  • The flight was overbooked, and I was the first to 'be bumped'. [=my seat on the flight was the first seat to be given to someone else]

  • His career hit a 'bump' in the road. = His career hit a road 'bump'. [=something happened that slowed the progress of his career]

  • The airplane landed 'with a bump'. [=the airplane went up again and then down when it hit the ground]

Movie quotes

  • (..) It was. It is now an antique. This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I'm swapping it up for an upgraded unit, and I just ran into a little speed bump. - Speed bump, what does that mean? - It's nothing. It's just a little snag. There's an exposed wire under this device. (..)
    2008 Iron Man