I. ˈpəmp noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English pumpe, pompe, from Middle Low German pumpe or Middle Dutch pompe, probably from Spanish bomba, of imitative origin
1.
a. : a device or machine that raises, transfers, or compresses fluids or that attenuates gases especially by suction or pressure or both — see centrifugal pump , displacement pump , jet pump , piston pump , rotary pump
b. : a part of an animal organism that functions as a mechanical pump ; specifically : heart
the doctor in Washington said I had a good pump — O.W.Holmes †1935
2.
a. : an act or the process of pumping
b. : a stroke of a pump
3. : one that pumps especially for information
4. : pump gun
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to raise (as water) with a pump — often used with up or out
2.
a. : to pour forth, eject, deliver, force, or draw in the manner of a pump or one using a pump
spring pumps mildly sulfurous hot water into a deep pool — J.A.Michener
the blood is pumped into the running and fighting muscles — H.A.Overstreet
pumped bullets into five congressmen — U.S. News & World Report
knowledge pumped into their resisting skulls — H.F. & Katharine Pringle
pumped fresh life into art … by using his own raw experiences — L.B.Nicolson
b. : to direct, assign, or influence the flow of (money) for stimulating or building up something (as agriculture, trade, or a business)
the power of the Federal Reserve system to pump cash into the commercial banks — R.S.Sayers
foreign aid programs which have pumped dollars into world trade channels — Introduction to Doing Import & Export Business
pump extra capital into the land — Economist
3.
a. : to subject to efforts intended to draw out, obtain, or extract (as information, secrets, money) : ply persistently with urgings and questions in order to elicit something
had been pumped long ago for biographical material — Times Literary Supplement
b. : to draw out, elicit, or extract by such efforts
tried to pump out from his memory reminiscences of his youth — H.S.Canby
4. : to draw water, air, or other fluid from : free from water by means of a pump
pump a well dry
pump out a ship
5.
a. : to manipulate as or as if a pump handle
he pumped Daniel's hand — Walter O'Meara
just pump the lever and shoot it — Ernest Hemingway
b. : to operate by so manipulating a lever or handle
a parcel-conveying system … which he operated by pumping the sewing-machine treadle — Clarence Woodbury
pump a handcar
pump a bicycle
6. : to reduce by exertion to a breathless or panting condition — often used with out
after the race he was all pumped out
7. : to fill with air by means of a pump or bellows
pump up a tire
8. : to inject a preservative solution into (ham or other meat) by means of a needle and pump
intransitive verb
1. : to work a pump : raise or move water or other fluid with a pump
mill pumping away on an almost still day — Laura Krey
2. : to drive, eject, or pour forth contents in the manner of a pump
rifles pumped continuously
3.
a. : to exert oneself to pump something or somebody
constricting the throat muscles, instead of pumping more vigorously with the abdominal muscles — A.T.Weaver
never tell our secrets to people that pump for them — O.W.Holmes †1894
b. : to throb heavily
heart pumped hard — Marcia Davenport
4.
a. : to move up and down like a pump handle
with a pumping of wings the birds were gone — Shirley A. Grau
bicycled by … her knees pumping furiously — Lael Tucker
a handcar operated by pumping
b. : to run, fly, or move as the result of such movement especially of legs or wings
a man came pumping up the road on a bicycle — Nelson Hayes
we would stand up in the swing and pump — Gordon Wilson
runner was rounding second, pumping for third — George Barrett
5. : to spurt out intermittently
blood pumps from a cut artery
6. of a mechanical or electrical device : hunt 3, pulsate , seesaw
7. : to take a full windup before pitching a baseball
•
- pump by heads
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
: a low shoe not fastened on and gripping the foot chiefly at the toe and heel
IV. noun
1. : an energy source (as light) for pumping atoms or molecules
2. : the process of pumping atoms or molecules
3. : a biological mechanism by which atoms, ions, or molecules are transported across cell membranes — see sodium pump herein
V. transitive verb
1. : to transport (as ions) against a concentration gradient by the expenditure of energy
2.
a. : to excite (as atoms or molecules) especially so as to cause emission of coherent monochromatic electromagnetic radiation (as in a laser)
b. : to energize (as a laser) by pumping
3. : promote 4c
pumped his new book in TV and radio interviews
•
- pump iron