The Origin of Jettison

Noun

Jettison comes from the Anglo-French noun geteson, meaning "action of throwing," and is ultimately from the Latin verb jactare, meaning "to throw." The noun jettison ("a voluntary sacrifice of cargo to lighten a ship's load in time of distress") entered English in the 15th century; the verb has been with us since the 19th century. The noun is also the source of the word jetsam ("jettisoned goods"), which is often paired with flotsam ("floating wreckage"). These days you don't have to be on a sinking ship to jettison something. In addition to literally "throwing overboard," jettison means simply "to get rid of." You might jettison some old magazines that are cluttering your house, or you might make a plan but jettison it at the last minute.

Examples of jettison in a Sentence

Verb The captain gave orders to jettison the cargo. They jettisoned the fuel and made an emergency landing. We should jettison these old computers and get new ones. They jettisoned plans for a vacation. Noun with his ship rapidly sinking, the captain ordered a last-ditch jettison of much of its cargo

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Travelers shouldn't jettison their rewards program, especially not their travel rewards credit card, says Erik Budde, CEO of the rewards website GigaPoints. — Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, "Is it time to give up your travel loyalty programs? The case for keeping or cutting up your cards," 1 Jan. 2021 The president again said Congress must jettison a provision in the annual bill that would create a commission to rename military installations, monuments and paraphernalia honoring Confederate commanders. — Lindsay Wise, WSJ, "House Approves Final Passage of Annual Defense-Policy Bill, 335-78," 8 Dec. 2020 After making a splash a couple of weeks ago by trading rental defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to Baltimore, there was genuine intrigue to see if the Vikings would jettison more big-name players before Tuesday’s trade deadline. — Michael Rand, Star Tribune, "A parallel universe in which Kirk Cousins was traded Tuesday," 4 Nov. 2020 Still another report indicate the league could jettison the entire 2020 preseason schedule. — oregonlive, "NFL shortens preseason from four to two games: Report," 1 July 2020 A few hours before reaching Earth's atmosphere, OSIRIS-REx will jettison a capsule containing the sample and put it on a trajectory to the planet. — Anne Ryman, The Arizona Republic, "NASA asteroid mission 2020: How to watch OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collect asteroid sample," 19 Oct. 2020 Some have questioned whether the department would jettison its Confederate holdings, considered among the most extensive in the nation, but Murray said that won't happen. — Jay Reeves, Star Tribune, "Alabama Archives faces its legacy as Confederate 'attic'," 21 Sep. 2020 Some have questioned whether the department would jettison its Confederate holdings, considered among the most extensive in the nation, but Mr. Murray, the current director, said that won’t happen. — Jay Reeves, The Christian Science Monitor, "Alabama's state archives confronts its racist past," 22 Sep. 2020 Consider that the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, rewarded Patrick Mahomes with a contract worth a potential half-billion dollars, and didn’t have to jettison any key players. — Star Tribune, "Vikings, with Dalvin Cook, and Packers, with Aaron Rodgers, take different approaches," 13 Sep. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Such anemic demand means that anything less than a robust rebound over the coming months will prompt airlines to cut more employees, jettison older aircraft, and cut more salaries, which in turn could persuade more workers to depart. — Justin Bachman, BostonGlobe.com, "America’s ‘Big Three’ airlines prepare for a difficult fall season," 20 Apr. 2020 In Barrie’s version, Wendy is soon cooking and caring for the boys, sidelined by the period conventions that Zeitlin thoroughly jettisons. — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, "‘Wendy’ Review: Where Playtime Goes On … and On," 27 Feb. 2020 In her loose adaptation of The Witch of Edmonton, written by William Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John Ford, Silverman reworks subplots and jettisons period dialogue for contemporary vernacular. — Jordan Riefe, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Witch': Theater Review," 30 Aug. 2019 In Rocket Lab’s design, its Electron rocket jettisons its payload and then begins to fall back toward Earth. — Daniel Oberhaus, WIRED, "Catch Rockets With a Helicopter? Yep, That's the Plan," 15 Aug. 2019 When the jettison button is pushed, a Cartridge Activated Device drops the tank. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Squadron leaders warned of dangerous helicopter ‘hot seat’ hours before sailor fatally injured, report finds," 5 Aug. 2019 Powered by a single AAA battery, Quip jettisons much of the baggage of more complicated brushes, including the charging system, providing instead a streamlined (and quite attractive) wand with a vibrating, replaceable head. — Christopher Null, WIRED, "Which Toothbrush Subscription Service Is the Best?," 6 June 2019 Although still based on the same Sound Core 3D chip as the AE-5 and AE-5 Pure, the AE-9 jettisons the on-chip digital analog converter, or DAC, in favor of an external DAC. — Gordon Mah Ung, PCWorld, "Exclusive first look: Creative Labs' high-end Sound BlasterX AE-9 breaks cover," 8 Dec. 2018 The best thing the Lakers could do for themselves, and LeBron James, is jettison Lonzo Ball and his deadweight daddy, and go looking for a healthy, mature partner for James. — Sally Jenkins, chicagotribune.com, "Welcome to L.A., LeBron James. See yourself out, LaVar Ball.," 2 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'jettison.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.