bumper

Etymology

From bump + -er.

noun

1. Someone or something that bumps.
2. (obsolete) A drinking vessel filled to the brim.
   […] they now shook hands heartily, and drank bumpers of strong beer to healths which we think proper to bury in oblivion. 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 443
   Yet can I gulp a bumper to thy name,— O smile among the shades, for this is fame! 1818, John Keats, Written in the cottage where Burns was born
3. (colloquial, now chiefly attributive) Anything large or successful.
4. (automotive) Parts at the front and back of a vehicle which are meant to absorb the impact of a collision; fender.
5. Any mechanical device used to absorb an impact, soften a collision, or protect against impact.
   The company sells screw-on rubber bumpers and feet.
6. (cricket) A bouncer.
7. (billiards) A side wall of a pool table.
8. A cylindrical object used (as a substitute for birds) to train dogs to retrieve.
9. (broadcasting) A short ditty or jingle used to separate a show from the advertisements.
10. (slang, dated) A covered house at a theatre, etc., in honour of some favourite performer.
11. (slang, Caribbean, Jamaica) A woman's posterior, particularly one that is considered full and desirable.
12. (music) An extra musician (not notated in the score) who assists the principal French horn by playing less-exposed passages, so that the principal can save their 'lip' for difficult solos. Also applied to other sections of the orchestra.
13. (pinball) An object on a playfield that applies force to the pinball when hit, often giving a minor increase in score.
14. (Australia, slang) A cigarette butt.
15. (horse racing) In National Hunt racing, a flat race for horses that have not yet competed either in flat racing or over obstacles.

adj

1. (colloquial) Large; (as if) filled to the bumpers at the top of a silo.
   We harvested a bumper crop of arugula and parsnips this year.
   a bumper collection of silly jokes

verb

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To drink from the vessels called bumpers.