More Commonly Misspelled Words Words You Always Have to Look Up Popular in Wordplay See All More Words with Remarkable Origins 8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments Birds Say the Darndest Things 10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version) ...
2 : to exert oneself to pump or as if to pump something 3 : to move in a manner that resembles the action of a pump handle transitive verb 1 a : to raise (something, such as water) with a pump b : to draw fluid from with a pump 2 : to pour forth, deliver, or draw ...
to exert oneself in a manner likened to pumping:He pumped away at his homework all evening. to seek to elicit information from a person. to come out in spurts. Idiomspump iron.Seeiron(def. 16). pump up: to inflate. to increase, heighten, or strengthen; ...