I. ˈjed.]əsən, ˈjet], ]-əzən\ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English jetteson, from Anglo-French getteson, from Old French getaison, getaisson action of throwing, from Latin jactation-, jactatio — more at jactation
1. marine insurance : a voluntary sacrifice of cargo of a ship necessitated by immediately impending danger threatening the general interest — compare general average
2. : a casting overboard or away (as of an object, a person, an idea) : abandonment
illustrates more forcibly than any election that has yet taken place the jettison of convictions, of honor, of patriotism — Saturday Review
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. maritime law : to make flotsam and jetsam of
deck loads were so heavy that many carriers had to jettison cargo when they got into a stiff blow — D.H.Clark
2. : to cast off as an encumbrance : get rid of : throw away : abandon , discard
if a diver does not know how to control his equipment or to jettison it in an emergency … he courts disaster — Byron Porterfield
the obsolete has been calmly jettisoned; the translation into the contemporary is complete — J.L.Lowes
an army too soft to jettison its weaklings is on the way out — Infantry Journal
3. : to drop (as auxiliary equipment, bombs, cargo, or fuel) from an airplane in flight (as for lightening the load or providing greater safety)
external long-range fuel tanks which can be jettisoned in combat — Peter Masefield