Definition of jump-start | Dictionary.com
/ ˈdʒʌmpˌstɑrt /
noun
Also jump. Automotive. the starting of an internal-combustion engine that has a discharged or weak battery by means of booster cables.
verb (used with object)
to give a jump-start to: to jump-start an engine.
to enliven or revive: to jump-start a sluggish economy.
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Origin of jump-start
First recorded in 1975–80
Words nearby jump-start
jump to a conclusion, jump turn, jump wire, jump-off, jump-shift, jump-start, jump-up, jumped-up, jumper, jumper ant, jumping bean
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for jump-start
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Within his own administration, Obama had to jump-start a policy that had effectively ground to a halt in 2011.
Congress Cooperates, Obama Pushes Hard, and Closing Gitmo Has a Chance|Daniel Klaidman|December 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
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But Obama has to test himself as well and put some smart compromises on the table to jump-start serious negotiations.
Iran, Try Peace or Get War|Leslie H. Gelb|September 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
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But the idea that tax reform will jump-start an economy suffering from the after-effects of a cyclical downturn is nonsense.
Can Tax Reform Jump-Start the Economy?|Justin Green|October 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
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“They said they were going to ‘make me talk,’ that they were going to ‘jump-start me like a car,’” he shivered.
Assad’s House of Torture|Anna Therese Day|October 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
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Summers and his economic team had an unenviable job, figuring out a way to jump-start the economy after the collapse of 2008.
Who’ll Replace Larry Summers?|The Daily Beast|September 22, 2010|DAILY BEAST
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I’d totaled about three hours of sleep, and even three cups of the Turk’s caffeine mud failed to jump-start my brain.
Little Brother|Cory Doctorow
British Dictionary definitions for jump-start
jump-start
verb
to start the engine of (a car) by connecting it to another engine with jump leads or (of a car) to start in this way
noun
the act of starting a car in this way
Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012