dump

 
Pronunciation: /dʌmp/

noun

  • 1a site for depositing rubbish.
  • a heap of rubbish left at a dump.
  • [usually with modifier] a place where a particular kind of waste, especially dangerous waste, is left: a nuclear waste dump
  • a place where weapons and other military equipment is stored: an ammunitions dump
  • 2 informal an unpleasant or dreary place: why are you living in a dump like this?
  • 3 Computing an act of copying stored data to a different location, performed typically as a protection against loss.
  • a printout or list of the contents of a computer’s memory, occurring typically after a system failure.
  • 4 informal an act of defecation.

verb

[with object]
  • 1deposit or dispose of (rubbish, waste, or unwanted material), typically in a careless or hurried way: trucks dumped 1,900 tons of refuse here
  • abandon (something) hurriedly in order to make an escape: the couple dumped the car and fled
  • put (something) down heavily or carelessly: she dumped her knapsack on the floor
  • informal abandon or desert (someone): Zoë was heartbroken when her boyfriend dumped her
  • send (goods unsaleable in the home market) to a foreign market for sale at a low price: these countries have been dumping cheap fertilizers on the UK market
  • informal sell off (assets) rapidly: investors dumped shares in scores of other consumer-goods firms
  • 2 Computing copy (stored data) to a different location, especially so as to protect against loss.
  • print out or list the contents of (a store), especially after a system failure.

Phrasal Verbs

dump on

North American informal criticize or abuse (someone); treat badly: you get dumped on just because of your name

Origin:

Middle English: perhaps from Old Norse; related to Danish dumpe and Norwegian dumpa 'fall suddenly' (the original sense in English); in later use partly imitative; compare with thump