English Lexicon

Jettison

/ˈdʒɛt.ɪ.sən/
verbnounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #8500 frequency
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Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As verb
  1. 1

    To abandon or discard someone or something that is no longer wanted, useful, or profitable.

    "The company decided to jettison its failing subsidiary to cut losses."
As noun
  1. 1

    The act of throwing goods overboard, especially to lighten a ship or aircraft in an emergency.

    "The emergency jettison of fuel allowed the aircraft to land safely."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Synonyms (3)
Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the Old French 'jettison', meaning the throwing of goods overboard, originating from the Latin 'jactare', meaning to throw. Historically used in maritime law to describe cargo intentionally discarded to save a ship from sinking, it has evolved into a general term for abandoning or discarding anything no longer wanted.

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