jump-start

See also: jumpstart, and jump start

English

Alternative forms

• jumpstart, jump start

Verb

jump-start (third-person singular simple present jump-starts, present participle jump-starting, simple past and past participle jump-started)

1. (transitive) To start a motor vehicle by passing an electrical current from a charged battery to the discharged ("dead" or "flat") battery of the vehicle being started, by using booster cables to temporarily connect the two batteries in parallel.

   Synonym: boost

2. (transitive, figuratively) To reactivate or rejuvenate.

   Synonyms: boost, reactivate, kick start

   Giving a really good speech at the convention could jump-start her political career.

   • 2022, NoViolet Bulawayo, Glory, Chatto & Windus, page 262:

     ‘That debt means we can’t access credit to jump-start the economy as needed.’

Translations

Start a motor vehicle

• French: ponter (fr), démarrer par pontage (fr)
• Spanish: puentear (es), pasar corriente, yumpear (Dominican Republic), yompear (Latin America), jumpear (Latin America), jompear (Dominican Republic)

Noun

jump-start (plural jump-starts)

1. The process or result of jump-starting a motor vehicle.

   I left my headlights on all night. Could you give me a jump-start?

2. (sports) A false start

   Synonyms: jumped start, jumped-start, false start, flier, flyer

See also

• jumper cable

Further reading

• jump start on Wikipedia.Wikipedia