jettison

verb jet·ti·son \ ˈje-tə-sən , -zən \

Definition of jettison

transitive verb

1 :to get rid of as superfluous or encumbering :omit or forgo as part of a plan or as the result of some other decision

must be prepared to jettison many romantic notions
—Christopher Catling

2 :to drop (cargo) to lighten a ship's load in time of distress

3 :to drop from an aircraft or spacecraft in flight

—

jettisonable

play \ˈje-tə-sə-nə-bəl, -zə-\ adjective

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Examples of jettison in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of jettison from the Web

Superstar wings Jimmy Butler and Paul George were shipped to Minnesota and Oklahoma City, respectively, and four-time All-Star Paul Millsap jettisoned Atlanta in favor of the Mile High City.

— michael shapiro, SI.com, "First-Time All-Stars: Five East Players Who Could Make the Jump," 11 Aug. 2017
Many saw his comments as an indicator of the Democratic party’s willingness to jettison women’s rights in order to win votes.

— claire landsbaum, The Cut, "Progressive Groups to Democrats: If You’re Not Pro-Choice, We Won’t Support You," 2 Aug. 2017
About 4 percent of all wind energy from Germany was jettisoned in 2015, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

— Fortune, "Google Has a Secret Plan to Store Renewable Energy," 31 July 2017
The Phillies jettisoned their last veteran commodity moments before Monday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline by flipping Joaquin Benoit to Pittsburgh for a single-A relief pitcher.

— matt gelb, Philly.com, "Phillies trade Joaquin Benoit to Pittsburgh for A-ball pitcher," 31 July 2017
Meanwhile, in the wake of jettisoning Miguel Montero, the Cubs could use an upgrade behind starting catcher Wilson Contreras, and no, David Ross isn't coming out of retirement.

— jay jaffe, SI.com, "Fixing More Holes: Identifying trade needs for teams chasing playoff spots," 20 July 2017
XDA Developers and 9to5Google both report that the 3.5mm jack will be jettisoned in the new model in favor of stereo speakers.

— michael simon, PCWorld, "Pixel 2: Everything we know about Google’s next flagship phone," 5 July 2017
All that by-now-unnecessary setup is jettisoned to get to the fun stuff.

— katie walsh, star-telegram.com, "Here’s an unexpected web development: ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ is a high-school blast," 3 July 2017
One other key difference: Faced with growing abuse by customers, REI a few years ago jettisoned its return-unsatisfactory-merchandise-anytime policy, limiting returns to a still-generous one year.

— rick romell, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "L.L. Bean shows off new store in Brookfield, the retailer's first in Wisconsin," 29 June 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.

Origin and Etymology of jettison

see ²jettison

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1848

See Words from the same year

jettison Synonyms

Other Nautical Terms

avast, aweigh, flotsam, jib, keel, lee, port, starboard, stay

jettison

noun

Definition of jettison

:a voluntary sacrifice of cargo to lighten a ship's load in time of distress

Examples of jettison in a Sentence

with his ship rapidly sinking, the captain ordered a last-ditch jettison of much of its cargo

The Origin of jettison

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.

Origin and Etymology of jettison

Middle English jetteson, from Anglo-French geteson, literally, action of throwing, from Latin jactation-, jactatio, from jactare — more at jet

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year