Definition of JETTISON

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

As part of the move, DeepMind will likely be jettisoning its independent review panel, which was created to oversee its deals with the NHS. — James Vincent, The Verge, "Privacy advocates sound the alarm after Google grabs DeepMind UK health app," 14 Nov. 2018 Still, Ross did not try to dissuade Mike Tannenbaum, Adam Gase and Chris Grier from jettisoning Ndamukong Suh, Jarvis Landry, Mike Pouncey and others this offseason. — Adam H. Beasley, miamiherald, "Plan to purge Dolphins roster was questioned, but this man ultimately gave his blessing | Miami Herald," 27 Mar. 2018 Contrary to the beliefs of some locals who disdain any change at all, there is no tragedy in jettisoning the names of people who no longer reflect what San Francisco wants to be about. — Caille Millner, San Francisco Chronicle, "Phelan Street honors a racist, so it might be time to name it for Frida Kahlo," 16 Mar. 2018 Cuban candidly acknowledged his team must look to the future by jettisoning the present by tanking the remainder of the current season. — Geoffrey C. Arnold, OregonLive.com, "Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban fined $600K for tanking comments," 22 Feb. 2018 Setting a course for the Premier Inn budget hotel chain will be the company’s main priority after Costa is jettisoned, and there’s no shortage of ideas in the market about how that can be achieved. — Lisa Pham, Bloomberg.com, "Whitbread Investors Debate Premier Inn's Future as M&A Odds Rise," 16 May 2018 The American workplace in 2018 is a mostly a desultory place, with corner offices replaced by picnic tables, and the two martini lunch jettisoned for the sad midday salad. — Jason Gay, WSJ, "The Life-Changing Magic of Chicken Wings and Sports Betting," 13 Aug. 2018 As a sizable percentage of men age, their blood and other body cells begin to spontaneously jettison copies of the Y chromosome, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. — Natalie Angier, New York Times, "Secrets of the Y Chromosome," 11 June 2018 Rudy Gobert continues to be the most intimidating defensive presence in the N.B.A., Mitchell can seemingly score at will, and Ricky Rubio, who was jettisoned in Minnesota’s revamping, finally found a place where his unusual skills can thrive. — Benjamin Hoffman, New York Times, "As the Playoffs Begin, the N.B.A.’s Biggest Stars are Going Ring Hunting," 13 Apr. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

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 Bryant gets a fresh start with a brand new locker room, while the Steelers jettison a player who trashed a fellow wide receiver on Twitter in October and was reportedly seeking a trade in midseason. — Robert Klemko, SI.com, "Draft Notes: For Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, the Wait Was Worth It," 27 Apr. 2018 During this process, sea lampreys jettison about 20 percent of their genome during embryonic development. — Diana Gitig, Ars Technica, "Odd vertebrate gets rid of hundreds of genes early in development," 28 Jan. 2018 Suddenly, from the far reaches of my mind, the legal jargon jettisons to the surface. — Whitney Ellenby, Washington Post, "Bystanders were horrified. But my son has autism, and I was desperate.," 27 Feb. 2018 The measure slashes corporate and individual income tax rates and jettisons numerous tax breaks Americans and businesses have used for years to limit their costs, my colleagues Damian Paletta and Mike DeBonis report. — Paige Winfield Cunningham, Washington Post, "The Health 202: If the GOP really wanted to repeal key parts of Obamacare, they could use their tax plan to do it," 3 Nov. 2017 The Parallax View incorporates this tendency but jettisons whatever was specifically political about it. — Art Simon, Slate Magazine, "In The Parallax View, Conspiracy Goes All the Way to the Top—and Beyond," 21 July 2017

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.