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Definition of prime the pump - 6 dictionary results
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pump

1  [puhmp]
Use prime the pump in a Sentence
–noun
1. an apparatus or machine for raising, driving, exhausting, or compressing fluids or gases by means of a piston, plunger, or set of rotating vanes.
2. Engineering, Building Trades. a shore having a jackscrew in its foot for adjusting the length or for bearing more firmly against the structure to be sustained.
3. Biology. an animal organ that propels fluid through the body; heart.
4. Cell Biology. a system that supplies energy for transport against a chemical gradient, as the sodium pump for the transfer of sodium and potassium ions across a cell membrane.
–verb (used with object)
5. to raise, drive, etc., with a pump.
6. to free from water or other liquid by means of a pump.
7. to inflate by pumping (often fol. by up): to pump a tire up.
8. to operate or move by an up-and-down or back-and-forth action.
9. to supply with air, as an organ, by means of a pumplike device.
10. to drive, force, etc., as if from a pump: He rapidly pumped a dozen shots into the bull's-eye.
11. to supply or inject as if by using a pump: to pump money into a failing business.
12. to question artfully or persistently to elicit information: to pump someone for confidential information.
13. to elicit (information) by questioning.
–verb (used without object)
14. to work a pump; raise or move water, oil, etc., with a pump.
15. to operate as a pump does.
16. to move up and down like a pump handle.
17. to exert oneself in a manner likened to pumping: He pumped away at his homework all evening.
18. to seek to elicit information from a person.
19. to come out in spurts.
—Verb phrase
20. pump up,
a. to inflate.
b. to increase, heighten, or strengthen; put more effort into or emphasis on; intensify: The store has decided to pump up its advertising.
c. to infuse with enthusiasm, competitive spirit, energy, etc.: The contestants were all backstage pumping themselves up for their big moment.
—Idioms
21. prime the pump,
a. to increase government expenditure in an effort to stimulate the economy.
b. to support or promote the operation or improvement of something.
22. pump iron. iron (def. 29).
Origin:
1400–50; late ME pumpe (n.); c. G Pumpe, D pomp

Related forms:
pump⋅a⋅ble, adjective
pumpless, adjective
pumplike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To prime the pump
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prime   (prīm)   
adj.  

  1. First in excellence, quality, or value. See Usage Note at perfect.

  2. First in degree or rank; chief. See Synonyms at chief.

  3. First or early in time, order, or sequence; original.

  4. Of the highest U.S. government grade of meat.

  5. Mathematics Of, relating to, or being a prime number.

n.  

  1. The earliest hours of the day; dawn.

  2. The first season of the year; spring.

  3. The age of ideal physical perfection and intellectual vigor.

  4. The period or phase of ideal or peak condition. See Synonyms at bloom1.

  5. The first position of thrust and parry in fencing.

  6. A mark (') appended above and to the right of a character, especially:

    1. One used to distinguish different values of the same variable in a mathematical expression.

    2. One used to represent a unit of measurement, such as feet or minutes in latitude and longitude.

    3. The second of the seven canonical hours. No longer in liturgical use.

    4. The time appointed for this service, the first hour of the day or 6 A.M.

  7. also Prime Ecclesiastical

    1. The second of the seven canonical hours. No longer in liturgical use.

    2. The time appointed for this service, the first hour of the day or 6 A.M.

  8. Mathematics A prime number.

  9. A prime rate.

  10. See primitive.

v.   primed, prim·ing, primes

v.   tr.

  1. To make ready; prepare: guard dogs primed for attack.

  2. To prepare (a gun or mine) for firing by inserting a charge of gunpowder or a primer.

  3. To prepare for operation, as by pouring water into a pump or gasoline into a carburetor.

  4. To prepare (a surface) for painting by covering with size, primer, or an undercoat.

  5. To inform or instruct beforehand; coach.

v.   intr.
To become prepared for future action or operation.

[Middle English, first in occurrence, from Old French, feminine of prin, from Latin prīmus; see per1 in Indo-European roots. N., sense 7, from Middle English, from Old English prīm, from Late Latin prīma (hōra), first (hour), from Latin, feminine of prīmus.]
prime'ly adv., prime'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2pump
Function: intransitive verb
: to work a pump : raise or move a fluid with a pump pump transitive senses
1 : to raise (as water) with a pump
2 : to draw fluid from with a pump
3 : to transport (as ions) against a concentration gradient by the expenditure ofenergy
4 a : to excite (as atoms or molecules) especially so as to cause emission of coherent monochromatic electromagnetic radiation (as in a laser) b : toenergize (as a laser) by pumping
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

pump (pŭmp)
n.

  1. A machine or device for raising, compressing, or transferring fluids.

  2. A molecular mechanism for the active transport of ions or molecules across a cell membrane.

v. pumped, pump·ing, pumps

  1. To raise or cause to flow by means of a pump.

  2. To transport ions or molecules against a concentration gradient by the expenditure of chemically stored energy.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Science Dictionary
pump   (pŭmp)  Pronunciation Key 


(click for larger image in new window)

  1. A device used to raise or transfer fluids. Most pumps function either by compression or suction.

  2. A molecular mechanism for the active transport of ions or molecules across a cell membrane.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Idioms & Phrases

prime the pump

Encourage the growth or action of something, as in Marjorie tried to prime the pump by offering some new issues for discussion. In the late 1800s this expression originally was used for pouring liquid into a pump to expel the air and make it work. In the 1930s it was applied to government efforts to stimulate the economy and thereafter was applied to other undertakings.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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