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bumper

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

Parts at the front and back of a vehicle which are meant to absorb the impact of a collision.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

buhmper

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈbʌmpɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. automotive

    Parts at the front and back of a vehicle which are meant to absorb the impact of a collision; fender.

  2. Someone or something that bumps.

  3. Any mechanical device used to absorb an impact, soften a collision, or protect against impact.

  4. A cylindrical object used (as a substitute for birds) to train dogs to retrieve.

  5. Australiaslang

    A cigarette butt.

adjective

  1. colloquial

    Wonderfully large; (as if) filled to the bumpers at the top of a silo, or successful in this regard.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
General and technical use

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (automotive) Parts at the front and back of a vehicle which are meant to absorb the impact of a collision; fender.

Used this way, bumper is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use bumper

  • “We quaffed a bumper of ale.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Mechanical

front bumperrear bumpercar bumper

Other combinations

bumper stickerbumper cropbumper harvestbumper trafficbumper year

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • bumpverbBase word

    Knock against with force or violence.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • bumpyadjectiveDerived adjective

    Causing or characterized by jolts and irregular movements.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • bumper carnounCompound term

    A small low-powered electrically powered vehicle driven on a special platform where there are many others to be dodged.

  • bumper guardnounCompound term

    Vertical bars attached to a bumper to prevent locking bumpers with another vehicle.

  • bumper jacknounCompound term

    A jack for lifting a motor vehicle by the bumper.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.