Dictionary

jump the gun en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. To begin a race too soon, before the starting gun goes off.
   • Unperturbed when an overanxious opponent jumped the gun in the women's 60-yd. dash, willowy Wilma Rudolph exploded perfectly from the starting blocks. 1961 February 24, “Sport: Higher & Farther”, in Time:
2. (idiomatic) To act or begin too soon or without due caution.
   • The former prime minister appears to be jumping the gun, pre-empting the legal process that is just beginning to dig deeper. 2006 May 15, Rob Hughes, “Uneasiness in Italy as Scandal Widens”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Sep 2011:
   • General reading readiness is assessed by tests and is also estimated by teachers who are often skillful at discerning just when a pupil is ready to learn to read. The important thing to remember is that jumping the gun is usually self-defeating. 1972, Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 24:
   • On a train back to Boston and we're jumpin' the gun / And I'm tellin' you baby, "This the part where I'd run" / But I like it when you're nice, like it when you're nice to me 2026 March 27, Stella Lefty, Grace Enger, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Joe Reeves, Noah Kahan, “Boston”, in Long Way Home, performed by Stella Lefty, track 5:
   • Taking advantage of advance press releases, gabby Walter Winchell jumped the gun a full two weeks by announcing in his radio period and tabloid column that the 1933-34 prizewinner was Men in White by Sidney Kingsley. 1934 May 14, “Theatre: Pulitzer Pother”, in Time:
3. (idiomatic, qualifier:investing) To trade securities based on information that is not yet public; to trade on inside information.

Forms

Relateds

get ahead of oneself · out of the gate · fire the starting gun · false start · gun jumping

Translations (35)

fi ottaa varaslähtö (to trade securities based on yet undisclosed information) · pl wyjść przed szereg (to act without due caution) · fr brûler les étapes (to act without due caution) · pt precipitar (to act without due caution) · ro fura startul (to begin a race too soon) · es usar información privilegiada (to trade securities based on yet undisclosed information) · fi varastaa (to begin a race too soon) · pl robić falstart (to begin a race too soon) · es precipitarse (to act without due caution) · cmn 操之過急 /操之过急 (to act without due caution) · es partir en falso (to begin a race too soon) · ru поспешить (to act without due caution) · fr agir hâtivement (to act without due caution) · fr faire un faux départ (to begin a race too soon) · de einen Frühstart hinlegen (to begin a race too soon) · cmn 搶跑 /抢跑 (to begin a race too soon) · ar يتسرع (to act without due caution) · ru де́йствовать преждевре́менно (to act without due caution) · fr s'emballer (to act without due caution) · pl zrobić falstart (to begin a race too soon) · fr commettre un délit d'initié (to trade securities based on yet undisclosed information) · fi ottaa varaslähtö (to begin a race too soon) · ml തോക്കിൽ കയറി വെടി വയ്ക്കുക (to act without due caution) · de überstürzen (to act without due caution) · fr devancer l'appel (to act without due caution) · pl dokonać transakcji w oparciu o informacje poufne (to trade securities based on yet undisclosed information) · pl wychodzić przed szereg (to act without due caution) · pl dokonywać transakcji w oparciu o informacje poufne (to trade securities based on yet undisclosed information) · fi ottaa varaslähtö (to act without due caution) · fr agir prématurément (to act without due caution) · it andare a testa bassa (to act without due caution) · fi hätäillä (to act without due caution) · nl te hard van stapel lopen (to act without due caution) · ru соверши́ть фальста́рт (to begin a race too soon) · ru поторопиться (to act without due caution)