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dump

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "dump", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "dump" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "dump" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

dump is aEnglishnoun. It means: A place where waste or garbage is left; a ground or place for dumping ashes, refuse, etc.; a disposal site. Pronounced /dʌmp/. It ranks #6,233 in English word frequency. Often confused with duo and dun.

Key facts for dump
PropertyValue
Headworddump
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dʌmp/
Letters4
Frequency rank#6,233
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of dump in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for dump is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dʌmp/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,233 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for dump, with forms such as "ddump", "dmup", and "dummp". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "duo", "dun", "dup", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dumpen, dompen, probably from Old Norse dumpa (“to thump”) (whence Danish dumpe (“to fall suddenly”)), of uncertain origin, possibly imitative of falling, similar to thump. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is dump, spelled D-U-M-P, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A place where waste or garbage is left; a ground or place for dumping ashes, refuse, etc.; a disposal site.
  2. 2
    A car or boat for dumping refuse, etc.
  3. 3
    That which is dumped, especially in a chaotic way; a mess.
  4. 4
    That which is dumped, especially in a chaotic way; a mess.
  5. 5
    An act of dumping, or its result.
  6. 6
    A formatted listing of the contents of program storage, especially when produced automatically by a failing program.
  7. 7
    A storage place for supplies, especially military.
  8. 8
    An unpleasant, dirty, disreputable, unfashionable, boring, or depressing looking place.
  9. 9
    An act of defecation; a defecating.
  10. 10
    A sad, gloomy state of the mind; sadness; melancholy; despondency.
  11. 11
    Absence of mind; reverie.
  12. 12
    A pile of ore or rock.
  13. 13
    A melancholy strain or tune in music; any tune.
  14. 14
    An old kind of dance.
  15. 15
    A small coin made by punching a hole in a larger coin (called a holey dollar).
  16. 16
    A temporary display case that holds many copies of an item being sold.

Etymology

From Middle English dumpen, dompen, probably from Old Norse dumpa (“to thump”) (whence Danish dumpe (“to fall suddenly”)), of uncertain origin, possibly imitative of falling, similar to thump.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddump,dmup,dummp,dumpp,dupm,udmp

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for dump

Misspelling Variants of "dump"

ddump5dmup4dummp5dumpp5dupm4udmp4
Misspelling Variants of "dump"

Frequency rank: #6,233 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dump"?
"dump" is spelled D-U-M-P. The IPA pronunciation is /dʌmp/.
What does "dump" mean?
As a noun, "dump" means: A place where waste or garbage is left; a ground or place for dumping ashes, refuse, etc.; a disposal site.
What words are commonly confused with "dump"?
"dump" is commonly confused with "duo", "dun", "dup". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "dump"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dump" is /dʌmp/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "dump"?
From Middle English dumpen, dompen, probably from Old Norse dumpa (“to thump”) (whence Danish dumpe (“to fall suddenly”)), of uncertain origin, possibly imitative of falling, similar to thump. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.