"jump ship" meaning in English

See jump ship in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-jump ship.ogg Forms: jumps ship [present, singular, third-person], jumping ship [participle, present], jumped ship [participle, past], jumped ship [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} jump ship (third-person singular simple present jumps ship, present participle jumping ship, simple past and past participle jumped ship)
  1. (nautical) To depart from a ship, especially without permission. Related terms: abandon ship Translations (depart from a ship): 離船 /离船 (líchuán) (Chinese Mandarin), 棄船 /弃船 (qìchuán) (Chinese Mandarin), hypätä laivasta (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-jump_ship-en-verb-kD-WUOrR Categories (other): Nautical, English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 78 22 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 68 32 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 70 30 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 82 18 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 74 26 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 81 19 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 74 26 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 81 19 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 85 15 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 74 26 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 82 18 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 82 18 Topics: nautical, transport Disambiguation of 'depart from a ship': 98 2
  2. (figurative) To leave something, especially suddenly or rapidly. Tags: figuratively Translations (leave suddenly): 潛逃 /潜逃 (qiántáo) (Chinese Mandarin), er tussenuit knijpen [slang] (Dutch), hypätä veneestä (Finnish), abandonner le navire. (French), abbandonare la nave (Italian), uciec z tonącego okrętu (Polish), porzucić pracę (Polish), pular fora (Portuguese), abandonar el barco (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-jump_ship-en-verb-7DlR5M9o Disambiguation of 'leave suddenly': 17 83

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "jumps ship",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "jumping ship",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
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    },
    {
      "form": "jumped ship",
      "tags": [
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Nautical",
          "orig": "en:Nautical",
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          "_dis": "78 22",
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          "_dis": "82 18",
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            [
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          "text": "As soon as the battleship docked in Singapore, Roger jumped ship, never to return.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To depart from a ship, especially without permission."
      ],
      "id": "en-jump_ship-en-verb-kD-WUOrR",
      "links": [
        [
          "nautical",
          "nautical"
        ],
        [
          "ship",
          "ship"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical) To depart from a ship, especially without permission."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "abandon ship"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "líchuán",
          "sense": "depart from a ship",
          "word": "離船 /离船"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "qìchuán",
          "sense": "depart from a ship",
          "word": "棄船 /弃船"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "depart from a ship",
          "word": "hypätä laivasta"
        }
      ]
    },
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      "examples": [
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              38,
              49
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I couldn't hack it as a teacher, so I jumped ship and flew back to Australia.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
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              241,
              252
            ]
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          "ref": "2022 January 13, Polly Toynbee, “Finally the Tory papers have caught on that Johnson is a liar – what kept them?”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "The few stalwarts praising the prime minister’s non-remorse today will be of small comfort to him, given their ranks include Ann Widdecombe and Patrick O’Flynn of the Express, while another of their ilk, the Telegraph’s Allison Pearson, has jumped ship altogether.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To leave something, especially suddenly or rapidly."
      ],
      "id": "en-jump_ship-en-verb-7DlR5M9o",
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        "(figurative) To leave something, especially suddenly or rapidly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "qiántáo",
          "sense": "leave suddenly",
          "word": "潛逃 /潜逃"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "lang_code": "nl",
          "sense": "leave suddenly",
          "tags": [
            "slang"
          ],
          "word": "er tussenuit knijpen"
        },
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          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "leave suddenly",
          "word": "hypätä veneestä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "leave suddenly",
          "word": "abandonner le navire."
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "lang_code": "it",
          "sense": "leave suddenly",
          "word": "abbandonare la nave"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "leave suddenly",
          "word": "uciec z tonącego okrętu"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "leave suddenly",
          "word": "porzucić pracę"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "leave suddenly",
          "word": "pular fora"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "17 83",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "leave suddenly",
          "word": "abandonar el barco"
        }
      ]
    }
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      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4d/En-au-jump_ship.ogg/En-au-jump_ship.ogg.mp3",
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    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations"
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      "tags": [
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      "form": "jumping ship",
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      "form": "jumped ship",
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  "pos": "verb",
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    {
      "word": "abandon ship"
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        "(nautical) To depart from a ship, especially without permission."
      ],
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        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ]
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        "English terms with quotations",
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          "type": "quotation"
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      "glosses": [
        "To leave something, especially suddenly or rapidly."
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        "(figurative) To leave something, especially suddenly or rapidly."
      ],
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        "figuratively"
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "líchuán",
      "sense": "depart from a ship",
      "word": "離船 /离船"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "qìchuán",
      "sense": "depart from a ship",
      "word": "棄船 /弃船"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "depart from a ship",
      "word": "hypätä laivasta"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "qiántáo",
      "sense": "leave suddenly",
      "word": "潛逃 /潜逃"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "lang_code": "nl",
      "sense": "leave suddenly",
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "word": "er tussenuit knijpen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "leave suddenly",
      "word": "hypätä veneestä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "leave suddenly",
      "word": "abandonner le navire."
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "sense": "leave suddenly",
      "word": "abbandonare la nave"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "leave suddenly",
      "word": "uciec z tonącego okrętu"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "leave suddenly",
      "word": "porzucić pracę"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "leave suddenly",
      "word": "pular fora"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "leave suddenly",
      "word": "abandonar el barco"
    }
  ],
  "word": "jump ship"
}

Download raw JSONL data for jump ship meaning in English (4.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.