bump

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bumped p. pr. & vb. n. Bumping. ] [ Cf. W. pwmp round mass, pwmpiaw to thump, bang, and E. bum, v. i., boom to roar. ] To strike, as with or against anything large or solid; to thump; as, to bump the head against a wall. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To come in violent contact with something; to thump. “Bumping and jumping.” Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ See Boom to roar. ] To make a loud, heavy, or hollow noise, as the bittern; to boom. [ 1913 Webster ]

As a bittern bumps within a reed. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The noise made by the bittern. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. That which bumps or causes a bump. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything which resists or deadens a bump or shock, such as a metal or rubber rim extending from an object; a buffer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Specifically: (Motor vehicles) A protective guard device, usually of metal or rubber, attached horizontally to the front or rear of the frame of a vehicle, designed to resist or deaden a bump or shock, and to prevent damage to the main frame of the vehicle in low-velocity collisions. [ PJC ]

n. [ A corruption of bumbard, bombard, a large drinking vessel. ] 1. A cup or glass filled to the brim, or till the liquor runs over, particularly in drinking a health or toast. [ 1913 Webster ]

He frothed his bumpers to the brim. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A covered house at a theater, etc., in honor of some favorite performer. [ Cant ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. moving slowly with little space between; -- used of road traffic. bumper-to-bumper traffic
Syn. -- crawling. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ The same word as bumkin, which Cotgrave defines thus: “Bumkin, Fr. chicambault, the luffe-block, a long and thick piece of wood, whereunto the fore-sayle and sprit-sayle are fastened, when a ship goes by the winde.” Hence, a clumsy man may easily have been compared to such a block of wood; cf. OD. boomken a little tree. See Boom a pole. ] An awkward, heavy country fellow; a clown; a country lout. “Bashful country bumpkins.” W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]