pump 1
— pumpable , adj. — pumpless , adj. — pumplike , adj.
/pump/ , n.
1. an apparatus or machine for raising, driving, exhausting, or compressing fluids or gases by means of a piston, plunger, or set of rotating vanes.
2. Engin. , Building Trades. a shore having a jackscrew in its foot for adjusting the length or for bearing more firmly against the structure to be sustained.
3. Biol. an animal organ that propels fluid through the body; heart.
4. Cell Biol. a system that supplies energy for transport against a chemical gradient, as the sodium pump for the transfer of sodium and potassium ions across a cell membrane.
5. prime the pump ,
a. to increase government expenditure in an effort to stimulate the economy.
b. to support or promote the operation or improvement of something.
v.t.
6. to raise, drive, etc., with a pump.
7. to free from water or other liquid by means of a pump.
8. to inflate by pumping (often fol. by up ): to pump a tire up.
9. to operate or move by an up-and-down or back-and-forth action.
10. to supply with air, as an organ, by means of a pumplike device.
11. to drive, force, etc., as if from a pump: He rapidly pumped a dozen shots into the bull's-eye.
12. to supply or inject as if by using a pump: to pump money into a failing business.
13. to question artfully or persistently to elicit information: to pump someone for confidential information.
14. to elicit (information) by questioning.
v.i.
15. to work a pump; raise or move water, oil, etc., with a pump.
16. to operate as a pump does.
17. to move up and down like a pump handle.
18. to exert oneself in a manner likened to pumping: He pumped away at his homework all evening.
19. to seek to elicit information from a person.
20. to come out in spurts.
21. pump iron . See iron (def. 16).
22. pump up ,
a. to inflate.
b. to increase, heighten, or strengthen; put more effort into or emphasis on; intensify: The store has decided to pump up its advertising.
c. to infuse with enthusiasm, competitive spirit, energy, etc.: The contestants were all backstage pumping themselves up for their big moment.
[ 1400-50; late ME pumpe (n.); c. G Pumpe, D pomp ]
pump 2
/pump/ , n.
1. a lightweight, low-cut shoe without fastenings for women.
2. a slip-on black patent leather shoe for men, for wear with formal dress.
[ 1720-30; orig. uncert. ]