jettison

English

WOTD – 6 April 2007

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman getteson, from Old French getaison, from geter, jeter (modern French: would be *jetaison like pendaison); possibly from a Vulgar Latin *iectātiō, from *iectātus < iectāre, from Latin iactō. Doublet of jetsam.

Pronunciation

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛɾəsən/, /ˈd͡ʒɛtɪsən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛtɪsn̩/, /-zn̩/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛɾɪsn̩/, /-zn̩/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Noun

jettison (plural jettisons)

1. (uncountable, collective) Items that have been or are about to be ejected from a boat or balloon.

   Synonym: jetsam ballast

2. (countable) The action of jettisoning items.

Translations

collectively, items that have been or are about to be ejected from a boat or balloon

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 拋棄／抛弃 (zh) (pāoqì)

• Danish: ballast c
• Dutch: ballast (nl) m
• Finnish: painolasti (fi)
• French: lest (fr) m
• Georgian: გემიდან ტვირთის გადაყრა (gemidan ṭvirtis gadaq̇ra), გემიდან ტვირთის მოშორება (gemidan ṭvirtis mošoreba)
• German: Ballast (de) m
• Hungarian: ballaszt (hu)
• Polish: balast (pl) m
• Portuguese: lastro (pt)
• Russian: балла́ст (ru) m (ballást)
• Tagalog: taponlulan

the action of jettisoning items

• Danish: losning c,
• Dutch: prijsgeven (nl) n, opgeven (nl) n, overboordgooien n,
• French: délestage (fr) m, largage (fr)
• Georgian: გადაყრა (gadaq̇ra)
• German: Abwerfen n
• Hebrew: הֲטָלָה לַיָּם (he) f (hatala layam)
• Norwegian: hive n
• Russian: сброс (ru) m (sbros), выбра́сывание (ru) n (vybrásyvanije) (гру́за за́ борт)

Verb

jettison (third-person singular simple present jettisons, present participle jettisoning, simple past and past participle jettisoned)

1. To eject from a boat, submarine, aircraft, spaceship or hot-air balloon, so as to lighten the load.

   The ballooners had to jettison all of their sand bags to make it over the final hill.

   The jettisoning of fuel tanks.

2. (figurative) To let go or get rid of as being useless or defective.

   Synonyms: discard, chuck, ditch, dump, junk, lose; see also Thesaurus:junk

   • 2018 October 30, David Streitfeld, “Where Trolls Reigned Free: A New History of Reddit”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     […] the defense of horrendous behavior as “free speech”; the jettisoning of “free speech” when it served corporate purposes; the way no one seeks permission but all expect forgiveness.

Translations

to eject from a boat

• Czech: odhodit pf
• Danish: losse (da), kaste over bord, smide over bord
• Dutch: lozen (nl), overboord werpen
• Finnish: heittää yli laidan
• French: délester (fr), larguer (fr), jeter (fr) par-dessus bord (fr)
• German: über Bord werfen, Ballast abwerfen
• Hebrew: הֵטִיל לַיָּם (he) m (hetil layam)
• Hungarian: kidob (hu)
• Italian: gettare in mare
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kaste overbord, kaste på sjøen

• Portuguese: deslastrar
• Russian: сбра́сывать (ru) impf (sbrásyvatʹ), сбро́сить (ru) pf (sbrósitʹ) (груз за́ борт)
• Spanish: echar mercancías al mar, deslastrar (es), soltar lastre
• Tagalog: taponlulanin

to let go or get rid of

• Czech: zbavit se pf, odhodit pf, upustit pf, opustit (cs) pf, zanechat (cs) pf
• Dutch: van de hand doen, achterlaten (nl)
• French: se débarrasser (fr), abandonner (fr), (familiar) balancer (fr)
• German: loswerden (de)
• Hungarian: megszabadul (hu)
• Italian: gettare (it), buttare (it), espellere (it)
• Maori: ākiri
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kvitte seg med, kaste (no)

• Portuguese: jogar fora, livrar-se de
• Russian: выбра́сывать (ru) impf (vybrásyvatʹ), вы́бросить (ru) pf (výbrositʹ)
• Spanish: desechar (es), expeler (es)

Further reading

• jettison on Wikipedia.Wikipedia