Pump | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Pŭmp, n.

noun

n. [Fr. pompe, It. pompa, Sp., Pg., & Catalan bomba, probably from It. bombare, to drink, allied to Gr. βυμβεῖν, to make a humming noise; L. Lat. bombum, a drink, draught, Ger. pumpe, Sw. pump, Dan. pompe, D. pomp.]

Sense 1. An hydraulic machine, variously constructed, for raising or transferring fluids, consisting essentially of a moving piece or piston working in a hollow cylinder or other cavity, with valves properly placed for admitting or retaining the fluid as it is drawn or driven through them by the action of the pistons.

☞ For the various kinds of pumps, see under CHAIN, FORCING, SUCTION, AIR, and ROTARY.

Sense 2. [Cf. POMP.] A low shoe with a thin sole. Swift.

Pŭmp, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. PUMPED (pŭmpt, 84); p. pr. & vb. n. PUMPING.]

To raise with a pump, as water.
To draw out by artful interrogatories; as, to pump out secrets.
To examine by artful questions for the purpose of eliciting secrets from.

But pump not me for politics. Otway. To pump a ship, to free it from water by means of a pump.

Pŭmp, v. i.

verbintransitive

To work a pump; to raise water with a pump.