phrasal verb

• 1jump on someone informal Attack or take hold of someone suddenly.

  More example sentences

  • ‘two men jumped on him from behind’
  • ‘Now I keep looking around expecting someone to jump on me and attack me.’
  • ‘Then one of them jumped on us and we fell against the police car.’
  • ‘She is jumped on and beaten by a man who steals her fur coat.’
  • ‘As he walked down the driveway he was jumped on and beaten with a blunt instrument.’
  • ‘About 10 attackers jumped on top of me, punching and kicking me.’
  • ‘He made a charge for goal and jumped on the goalie.’
  • ‘Drew and Matthew rushed forward and jumped on the Russian.’
  • ‘I didn't have very much time to think into this though because suddenly someone jumped on me, knocking us both backward.’
  • ‘In a second Kyle jumped on Darren, slamming him to the floor and punching him in the mouth.’
  • ‘The 32-year-old was jumped on by three men as he walked down Coggeshall Road, Braintree, just after midnight on Saturday.’

  1. 1.1jump on someoneCriticize someone suddenly and severely.
     ‘we had sergeants and inspectors jumping on us for the least little thing’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Now before you all go jumping on me for being intolerant, I'll tell you all a few things about being intolerant.’
     • ‘Be it politics or religion or sports or even raising my own damned kids, there is always someone eager to jump on me for the things I say.’
     Synonyms

     vilify, disparage, denigrate, defame, run down, impugn, revile, berate, belittle, abuse, insult, slight, attack, speak badly of, speak ill of, speak evil of, pour scorn on, criticize, censure, condemn, decry, denounce, pillory, lambast
  2. 1.2jump on somethingGive sudden and typically critical attention to something.
     ‘the paper jumped on the inconsistencies of his stories’
     More example sentences

     • ‘I don't really blame his critics for jumping on this - I'd probably do the same in their shoes - but the evidence of outright falsehoods is fairly limited.’
     • ‘And why were the media so quick to jump on the story, pillory it, and then refuse to acknowledge their own participation in producing and promoting the hoax?’
     • ‘I also remember how many times Roone was jumped on by the critics when one of his many news or sports experiments tanked.’
     • ‘In Florida, several local newspapers have jumped on the story.’
     • ‘A number of newspapers have jumped on a sentence or two in the report to try to twist it into a condemnation of the administration's policy.’
     • ‘It is the type of case anti-euthanasia campaigners jump on as evidence of what a tolerant regime can lead to.’