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Glite Dictionary
⚡ To restart quickly 🚗 A car start 🚗 To start a car
to jumpstart

to jumpstart

1 3.5
To get a car going when its battery is dead using cables and another car
  • verb
  • /ˈdʒʌmpˌstɑrt/
translation icon : arrancar
  • Something smells here though. I think my alligator clip wires are burning further every time I try to jumpstart. They still work.
  • jumpstart your car

Examples

  • After the long winter, it took a few tries to jumpstart the old pickup truck's battery.

  • I was trying to jumpstart the car, and the battery blew up.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • I had to jumpstart my car after I accidentally left the lights on all night.

  • He used jumper cables to jumpstart his friend's car when the battery died.

Synonyms

to jump
vsto jumpstart
  • US
38 6.8

To start a car with another vehicle's battery

is specific to cars rather than any vehicle
to jump-start
vsto jumpstart
1 3.7

To start a car engine that has a dead battery using another car's battery and cables

is the unhyphenated modern spelling of that same action

Antonyms

stop
310 1.0

An act when something ends or pauses

Surface Forms

jumpstart infinitive
jumpstarted past
jumpstarted past participle
jumpstarting present participle
jumpstarts third person singular

Morphology

jumpstart = jump + start (transparent) = jump + start

The compound 'jump' + 'start' directly conveys the notion of giving a sudden or external start, matching the literal vehicle procedure.

Etymology

Jumpstart comes from the two simple words jump and start, where jump suggests a sudden push and start means 'to begin'. It originally described using another car's battery to give a quick electrical 'jump' so the engine can 'start', which is why to jumpstart a car is to make it begin again.