bumper
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈbʌmpə(ɹ)/
Noun

bumper (plural bumpers)

  1. Someone or something that bumps.
  2. (obsolete) A drinking vessel filled to the brim.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 443:
      […] they now shook hands heartily, and drank bumpers of strong beer to healths which we think proper to bury in oblivion.
    • 1818, Keats, Written in the cottage where Burns was born:
      Yet can I gulp a bumper to thy name,—
      O smile among the shades, for this is fame!
    • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 8:
      Mr. Horrocks served myself and my pupils with three little glasses of wine, and a bumper was poured out for my lady.
    • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, chapter 11
      Sydney Carton drank the punch at a great rate; drank it by bumpers, looking at his friend.
  3. (colloquial, now, mostly, attributive) Anything large or successful.
  4. (automotive, US) Parts at the front and back of a vehicle which are meant to absorb the impact of a collision; fender.
  5. Any mechanical device used to absorb an impact, soften a collision, or protect against impact.
    • The company sells screw-on rubber bumpers and feet.
  6. (cricket) A bouncer.
  7. (billiards) A side wall of a pool table.
  8. (broadcasting) A short ditty or jingle used to separate a show from the advertisements.
  9. (slang, dated) A covered house at a theatre, etc., in honour of some favourite performer.
  10. (slang, Caribbean) A woman's posterior, particularly one that is considered full and desirable.
  11. (music) An extra musician (not notated in the score) who assists the principal French horn by playing less-exposed passages, so that the principal can save their 'lip' for difficult solos. Also applied to other sections of the orchestra.
  12. (pinball) An object on a playfield that applies force to the pinball when hit, often giving a minor increase in score.
Translations Translations Translations Adjective

bumper (not comparable)

  1. (colloquial) Large; filled to the bumpers at the top of a silo.
    We harvested a bumper crop of arugula and parsnips this year.
Verb

bumper (bumpers, present participle bumpering; past and past participle bumpered)

  1. (obsolete, intransitive) To drink from the vessels called bumpers.



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