bump up
Britishverb
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Suddenly increase, as in Oil-producing nations decided to bump up the price of oil . This term is used mainly for prices or other figures. [ Colloquial ; 1930s]
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Give a promotion. For example, Kevin hoped to be bumped up to first class , or After five years, she expected they would bump her up to vice-president . [ Slang ; second half of 1900s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
United Airlines helped re-route Calderón to Nicaragua — and the airline did bump up his seat to first class to make up for the mix-up.
From Los Angeles Times
The bump up in the number of mortgages transitioning into delinquency is surprising because underwriting standards have been high in recent years.
From Barron's
The Dodgers bumped up the guides’ pay from $17.87 to $24 an hour — the same increase they would have gotten under the scrapped union contract.
From Los Angeles Times
The company has a history of gradually bumping up its numbers each quarter.
From Barron's
Any security mitigation, however, will bump up against the fact that those entitlements are what make agents so useful in the first place.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
