I. dump 1 S3 /dʌmp/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: Perhaps from Dutch dompen 'to put in water, throw down' ]
1 . PUT SOMETHING SOMEWHERE [always + adverb/preposition] to put something somewhere in a careless untidy way:
Merrill dumped her suitcase down in the hall.
dump something on something
They dump tons of salt on icy road surfaces to make driving safer.
dump something in/into something
He found a can of beef stew and dumped it in a saucepan to heat.
2 . GET RID OF SOMETHING
a) to get rid of something that you do not want:
Ellie dumped all the photos of her ex-husband.
He dumped her body into the sea.
b) to get rid of waste material by taking it from people’s houses and burying it under the soil:
Britain dumps more of its waste than any other European country.
3 . END RELATIONSHIP informal to end a relationship with someone:
Vicky dumped Neil yesterday.
4 . SELL GOODS to get rid of goods by selling them in a foreign country at a much lower price
dump in/on
a campaign to stop cheap European beef being dumped in West Africa
5 . COPY INFORMATION technical to copy information stored in a computer’s memory on to something else such as a ↑ disk or ↑ magnetic tape ⇨ ↑ dumping
dump on somebody phrasal verb informal
1 . dump something on somebody to unfairly give someone an unwanted job, duty, or problem to deal with:
Don’t just dump the extra work on me.
2 . American English to treat someone badly
3 . American English to criticize someone very strongly and often unfairly:
politicians dumping on their opponents
4 . dump (something) on somebody to tell someone all your problems and worries:
We all dump our troubles on Mike.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ put to move something to a particular place:
I’ve put the wine in the fridge.
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Where have you put my grey shirt?
▪ place to put something somewhere carefully:
‘It’s beautiful,’ he said, placing it back on the shelf.
▪ lay to put someone or something down carefully on a flat surface:
He laid all the money on the table.
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She laid the baby on his bed.
▪ position to carefully put something in a suitable position:
Position the microphone to suit your height.
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Troops were positioned around the city.
▪ slip to put something somewhere with a quick movement:
He slipped his arm around her waist.
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Carrie quickly slipped the money into her bag.
▪ shove to put something into a space or container quickly or carelessly:
Shove anything you don’t want in that sack.
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I’ve ironed those shirts so don’t just shove them in a drawer.
▪ stick ( also bung British English ) informal to put something somewhere quickly or carelessly:
I stuck the address in my pocket and I can’t find it now.
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Could you bung those clothes in the washing machine?
▪ dump to put something down somewhere in a careless and untidy way:
Don’t just dump all your bags in the kitchen.
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People shouldn’t dump rubbish at the side of the street.
▪ pop informal to quickly put something somewhere, usually for a short time:
Pop it in the microwave for a minute.
▪ thrust literary to put something somewhere suddenly or forcefully:
‘Hide it,’ he said, thrusting the watch into her hand.
II. dump 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . WASTE a place where unwanted waste is taken and left
rubbish dump British English garbage dump American English :
The fire probably started in a rubbish dump.
Put the rest into a sack to take to the dump.
an underground nuclear waste dump
a dump site
2 . WEAPONS a place where military supplies are stored, or the supplies themselves:
There has been a series of explosions in an ammunition dump.
3 . UNPLEASANT PLACE informal a place that is unpleasant to live in because it is dirty, ugly, untidy etc:
‘What a dump,’ she added as they entered the village.
Why are you living in a dump like this?
4 . down in the dumps informal very sad and without much interest in life:
She’s feeling a bit down in the dumps.
5 . COMPUTER technical the act of copying the information stored in a computer’s memory onto something else, such as a ↑ disk :
a screen dump
6 . take a dump informal not polite to pass solid waste from the ↑ bowel s