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Glite Dictionary
to bump around

to bump around

1 4.2
To move in a rough, unsteady way while being knocked or pushed
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : moverse de manera inestable
  • I guess it was a puppy dream of chasing squirrels and kongs that made her tail thump and bump around and thud and moan when she hit her head on the underside of the bed.
  • gets bumped around

Examples

  • When it's time for us to go, we bump around in the foyer, kiss each other's cheeks, hug each other, and the baby screams.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Those black twisting beasts he carried in his bag—they'd be bumping around right now, anxious to be out.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Her arms loose, bumping around.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • "There's an awful lot bumping around in there right now.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • In the sudden silence that followed, George could hear the little bag bumping around in the man's pocket.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • I must have bumped around more than I thought because Joe Weber came peeking in, sleep still hanging on his eyes.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Wispy motes of dust and hair the size of small heads bumped around in the corners.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • At first, he tried to keep up, bumping around, wiping and sniffing and carrying towels, but after a month or so, he just stayed home.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • We have put a chair in front of the cabinet in question, and the creature is bumping around so hard that the chair is moving. Michelle is on a table, my client is naked on her table, I'm still working but also on the phone with homenovio (whose man move of saving me is "Do you want me to come over?"

    Blog text (30)

  • The children were bumping around the playground, laughing and playing on the swings.

Synonyms

to wobble
vsto bump around
40 3.8

To move or shake unsteadily from side to side

involves general rough movement often with repeated knocks and jostling
to bobble
vsto bump around
1 3.7

To move up and down quickly and lightly many times

is rougher and heavier, caused by knocks and obstacles rather than light bouncing
to jar
vsto bump around
1 5.3

To move or make something move with a sudden strong shake

is ongoing rough movement caused by repeated knocks not a single jolt
to knock about
vsto bump around
  • UK
1 6.3

To hit something hard so it moves or gets damaged

is milder and describes moving roughly due to knocks rather than violent striking
to wabble
vsto bump around
8.9

To move unsteadily from side to side

is the standard phrase for rough movement caused by repeated knocks and jostling
to wamble
vsto bump around
  • Archaic
9.9

To move unsteadily while rolling from side to side

involves being knocked or jostled repeatedly rather than smooth rolling

Antonyms

to stay in place
10 1.5

Not move from a place

How Rough

to jostle
22 4.4
to bump around
1 4.2
to glide
89 2.9

Surface Forms

bump around infinitive
bumped around past
bumped around past participle
bumping around present participle
bumps around third person singular

Morphology

bump + around

The meaning 'to move about in a rough or unsteady way' is directly derivable from combining 'bump' (to collide/strike) with 'around' (moving about), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can plausibly infer the sense of being jostled while moving. This follows a regular compositional phrasal-verb pattern common in English and similar logic appears in many languages, making it transparent.

Etymology

Bump around comes from the image of a person or vehicle on a rough road being knocked up and down and from side to side, where bump is the hit and around shows moving in different directions. That's why it means 'to move about in a rough or unsteady way'.