Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To cast overboard or off.
  • transitive verb Informal To discard (something) as unwanted or burdensome.
  • noun The act of discarding or casting overboard.
  • noun Jetsam.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In law, the throwing overboard of goods or merchandise, especially for the purpose of easing a ship in time of danger or distress.
  • To throw overboard, especially for the purpose of easing and saving a ship in time of danger.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Mar. Law) The throwing overboard of goods from necessity, in order to lighten a vessel in danger of wreck.
  • noun See Jetsam, 1.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable Collectively, items that have been or are about to be ejected from a boat or balloon.
  • noun countable The action of jettisoning items.
  • verb To eject from a boat, submarine, aircraft, spaceship or hot-air balloon, so as to lighten the load.
  • verb To let go or get rid of as being useless or defective; discard.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb throw as from an airplane
  • verb throw away, of something encumbering

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Middle English jetteson, a throwing overboard of goods to lighten ship, from Anglo-Norman getteson, from Vulgar Latin *iectātiō, iectātiōn-, from *iectātus, past participle of *iectāre, to throw; see jet.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman getteson, from Old French getaison (French: would be *jetaison like pendaison). Cognate to jetsam

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Examples

  • I've got a few clean-up issues to attend to, not least of all my need to "jettison" (to borrow Bill's oh-so-apt word choice) the frame story - which is something I've been thinking about ever since moriarty6 suggested the same.

    Bipolar Bear could take over the world, if she could only get out of bed moriarty6 2006

  • But we find that, when someone wants to make a major change in their lives, especially around breaking out of chemical abuse, if they kind of jettison that person who was part of that abuse with them, that ` s usually a very positive step.

    CNN Transcript Sep 14, 2006 2006

  • Television, as you know, can kind of jettison you into a whole new world.

    CNN Transcript Sep 23, 2002 2002

  • "But," I asked, "do not the men object to this kind of jettison?"

    Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life Thomas Wallace Knox 1865

  • Obviously Spansion is bullish about their business going forward although they've shrunk it kind of jettison the mobile market.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page 2010

  • Obviously Spansion is bullish about their business going forward although they've shrunk it kind of jettison the mobile market.

    Hardware Sector and Stocks Analysis from Seeking Alpha 2010

  • I wonder if Barack Obama has a backup plan - a "jettison" option, if you will - on any references he may make to "global warming" during his inaugural speech - just in case wind chills are hovering around zero on January 20th.

    Latest Articles 2009

  • 2. Add up all the people who vote Republican but want to "jettison" anti-abortion or pro-gun.

    The Democratic Convention. Ann Althouse 2008

  • 'unseen hand' was at work to 'jettison' the truth in the sensational case.

    Latest News Online - Express Indian 2008

  • "jettison" ( "a voluntary sacrifice of cargo to lighten a ship's load in time of distress") entered English in the 15th century; the verb has been with us since the 19th century.

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day 2008

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