jump-start

UK: /ˈdʒʌmpstɑː^rt/ US: (jump′stärt′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ˈjump-ˌstart,  n. [countable]

1. Automotive the starting by means of booster cables of an internal-combustion engine that has a discharged or weak battery.

v. [~ + object]

2. Automotive to give a jump-start to:
   to jump-start the car's engine.
3. to give new energy to;
   revive:
   to jump-start the sluggish economy.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

jump-start  (jump′stärt′), n. 

1. Automotive Also, jump. the starting of an internal-combustion engine that has a discharged or weak battery by means of booster cables.

v.t. 

2. Automotive to give a jump-start to:
   to jump-start an engine.
3. to enliven or revive:
   to jump-start a sluggish economy.

• 1975–80

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

jump-start verb

1. to start the engine of (a car) by connecting it to another engine with jump leads or (of a car) to start in this way

noun

1. the act of starting a car in this way