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Bump vs Pothole - What's the difference?

bump | pothole |

As nouns the difference between bump and pothole

is that bump is a light blow or jolting collision while pothole is a shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion by weather or traffic.

As a verb bump

is to knock against or run into with a jolt.

As a proper noun Bump

is {{surname|lang=en}.

bump

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A light blow or jolting collision.
  • The sound of such a collision.
  • A protuberance on a level surface.
  • A swelling on the skin caused by illness or injury.
  • * Shakespeare
  • It had upon its brow / A bump as big as a young cockerel's stone.
  • One of the protuberances on the cranium which, in phrenology, are associated with distinct faculties or affections of the mind.
  • the bump''' of veneration; the '''bump of acquisitiveness
  • (rowing) The point, in a race in which boats are spaced apart at the start, at which a boat begins to overtake the boat ahead.
  • The swollen abdomen of a pregnant woman.
  • (Internet) A post in an Internet forum thread made in order to raise the thread's profile by returning it to the top of the list of active threads.
  • A temporary increase in a quantity, as shown in a graph.
  • US presidential nominees get a post-convention bump in survey ratings.
  • (slang) A dose of a drug such as ketamine or cocaine, when snorted recreationally.
  • The noise made by the bittern; a boom.
  • A coarse cotton fabric.
  • A training match for a fighting dog.
  • Derived terms

    * bump and grind * bump in the road * bumpity * bumpy * fist bump * razor bump * speed bump * things that go bump in the night

    Verb

  • To knock against or run into with a jolt.
  • To move up or down by a step.
  • I bumped the font size up to make my document easier to read.
  • (Internet) To post in an Internet forum thread in order to raise the thread's profile by returning it to the top of the list of active threads.
  • (chemistry, of a superheated liquid) To suddenly boil, causing movement of the vessel and loss of liquid.
  • * 1916 , Albert Prescott Mathews, Physiological chemistry
  • Heat until the liquid bumps , then reduce the heat and continue the boiling for 1½ hours.
  • To move (a booked passenger) to a later flight because of earlier delays or cancellations.
  • * 2005 , Lois Jones, EasyJet: the story of Britain's biggest low-cost airline (page 192)
  • Easyjet said the compensation package for passengers bumped off flights was 'probably the most flawed piece of European legislation in recent years'...
  • To move the time of a scheduled event.
  • * 2010 , Nancy Conner, Matthew MacDonald, Office 2010: The Missing Manual , p. 332:
  • A colleague emails with news that her 4:30 meeting got bumped to 3:30.
  • (archaic) To make a loud, heavy, or hollow noise; to boom.
  • * Dryden
  • as a bittern bumps within a reed

    Derived terms

    * bump and grind * bump into * bump off * bump up * English 4chan slang ----

    pothole

    English

    Etymology 1

    c 1826, from (etyl) + (hole)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion by weather or traffic.
  • A pit formed in the bed of a turbulent stream.
  • * The earliest ideas on the creation of potholes''' are that they were associated with "moulins de glacier" (glacier mills) formed where surface streams on glaciers and ice sheets fall into holes in the ice. Water entering these surficial holes was believed to impact on the bedrock beneath creating a large '''pothole'''. The "Moulin Hypothesis", first suggested in 1874, continued to be accepted by many authors until the 1950s. However, commencing in the 1930s, other authors have suggested dissatisfaction with the moulin hypothesis, largely on the grounds that it failed to explain how ice could remain stable long enough for the "giant" '''potholes''' to form and why many '''potholes (like those at Rockwood) were present in large numbers. Grand River Conservation Authority (Canada) Newsletter of May-June 2002.
  • (geology) A vertical cave system, often found in limestone.
  • Synonyms
    * (large pit in the bed of a stream) giant kettle
    Derived terms
    * potholing

    See also

    * sinkhole

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaeology) A pit resulting from unauthorized excavation by treasure hunters or vandals.