See Also: pump(dictionary)
pump(2)(dictionary)
Pump(medicine)
pump(encyclopedia)
Air pump(medicine)
air pump(dictionary)
pump(1)(dictionary)
ion pump(medicine)
saliva pump(medicine)
Insulin Pump(health)

pump(1) (iou)



pump noun1. LME.
[Orig. naut.; corresp. to late Middle Dutch pompe wood or metal pipe, stone conduit, Dutch pomp ship's pump, Low German pump(e), whence early mod. German Pumpe, Swedish pump, Danish, French pompe: perh. ult. imit.]
A mechanical device, usu. consisting of a cylinder in which a piston or plunger is moved up and down, used to raise water etc. by lifting, suction, or pressure; gen. any of various devices for the raising or moving of liquids, compression or evacuation of gases, etc. LME.
bicycle-pump, hand-pump, petrol pump, stomach-pump, suction pump, etc. prime the pump: see PRIME verb2.
H. Williamson Large rotary pumps for forcing filtered water through pipes. Which? Garages weren't reflecting the full price at their pumps.
b. transf. Any bodily organ having a pumping action; colloq. the heart. L18.
E. O'Neill I guess my old pump's busted.
c. Physiology. A mechanism in living cells by which energy is used to cause specific ions to pass through the cell membrane against a concentration gradient. M20.
d. ellipt. A pump-action shotgun. US. M20.
The bilge or well of a ship. Now rare or obsolete. M16.
An act of pumping; a stroke of a pump. L17.
An attempt at extracting information from a person by exhaustive or persistent questioning. Also, a person skilled in this. M18.
Comb.: pump-action adjective (orig. US) designating a repeating firearm activated by a horizontally-operating slide action; pump attendant a person who serves petrol at a garage; pump-brake the handle of a pump, esp. with a transverse bar for several people to work at; pump-handle noun & verb (a) noun a handle by which a pump is worked; (b) verb trans. (colloq.) shake (a person's hand) vigorously; pump island the part of a petrol station on which the pumps stand; pump-log US a hollowed log used in the construction of a pump or as a water pipe; pumpman a man who works a pump; spec. a person in charge of the pumps in a mine; pump-primer a financial grant etc. aimed to stimulate economic enterprise; pump-priming verbal noun & ppl adjective (a) introducing fluid etc. into a pump to prepare it for working; (b) fig. stimulating commerce etc. by investment; pump-rod a rod connecting the piston or plunger of a pump with the motive power; pump room a room or building where a pump is worked; spec. a place at a spa where medicinal water is dispensed; pumpset a complete pumping installation, comprising a pump, a source of power, and all necessary fitments; pump-tree a length of tree-trunk used as the stock of a pump, or as a water pipe; pump-turbine Engineering a machine designed to operate as a pump running in one direction or a turbine running in the other; pump-water: obtained from below the surface of the soil by means of a pump; pump-well (a) a compartment in a ship in which the pumps work; (b) a well with a pump combined.
pumpless adjective (rare) without a pump L19.