bumps (up)

verb

present tense third-person singular of bump (up)
as in ratchets (up)

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bumps (up)
  1. increases
  2. maximizes
  3. builds up
  4. pumps up
  5. augments
  6. ups
  7. accelerates
  8. compounds
Verb
  • Leaders should ask whether a new location grows the customer base, deepens existing relationships, or increases purchase frequency or spending enough to offset channel substitution.
    — Ayşe Çetinel, Harvard Business Review, 18 Aug. 2026
  • But the price of doing so is constantly rising, as technology increases the range and magnitude of horrible possibilities.
    — Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of increases
Verb
  • Early planning minimizes time spent renegotiating schedules and maximizes time supporting their child’s interests.
    — Rebecca L. Palmer, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2026
  • The Laffer Curve suggests that there's a sort of magical tax rate in between these two extremes that maximizes tax revenue.
    — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of maximizes
Verb
  • Eventually that carbon will begin to fuse into neon, then the neon will fuse into magnesium, and so on up the periodic table until iron builds up in the core.
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2026
  • This happens when water in front of the tire builds up faster than the vehicle's weight can push water out of the way.
    — CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 15 July 2026
Definition of builds up
Verb
  • The Brilliance adjustment reduces highlights and pumps up shadows simultaneously, which can help an image look more balanced (similar to an HDR effect).
    — Michael Muchmore, PC Magazine, 29 June 2026
  • An available $14,600 titanium exhaust system from the supplier Akrapovič pumps up the volume.
    — Lawrence Ulrich, Robb Report, 12 June 2026
Definition of pumps up
Verb
  • That’s the process of a centaur, who gets to choose and direct the technology that augments his work.
    — Peter Greene, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Technology that augments humans spreads prosperity, but technology built to imitate and substitute for them concentrates it.
    — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 21 July 2026
Definition of augments
Verb
  • The comeback ups Mars’s count to three simultaneous appearances on the main albums ranking.
    — Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • This month marks the second release of this partnership, and this new whisky, also aged for 16 years, ups the maturation program to a total of five different cask types.
    — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of ups
Verb
  • Flora started as a set of professional tools for creatives that accelerates workflows by combining top AI text, image, and video models.
    — Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • While rising college-going rates helped university entrants grow to 640,000 over that period, the government projects that number will fall to about 510,000 by 2040 as demographic decline accelerates.
    — Anna Esaki-Smith, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of accelerates
Verb
  • Excess construction materials exported from China, together with Chinese construction services, helped casinos, special economic zones, and scam compounds develop rapidly in Southeast Asia while supporting Chinese export revenues.
    — Alvin Camba, Foreign Affairs, 21 Aug. 2026
  • An executive’s experience naturally compounds over the decades.
    — Julian Hayes II, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of compounds
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

bumps off
bumps (up)
bumptious
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bumps (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bumps%20%28up%29. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tilde

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All