Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PUMP, n. [Fr. pompe, a pump and pomp; D. pomp; Dan. pompe; Sp. bomba, a pump and a bomb. We see that pump, pomp and bomb are the same word, differently applied by different nations. The L. bombus is of the same family, as is the Eng. bombast; Ir. buimpis, a pump; W. pwmp, a round mass. The primary sense of the root seems to be to swell.]

1. A hydraulic engine for raising water, by exhausting the incumbent air of a tube or pipe, in consequence of which the water rises in the tube by means of the pressure of the air on the surrounding water. There is however a forcing pump in which the water is raised in the tube by a force applied to a lateral tube, near the bottom of the pump.
2. A shoe with a thin sole. – Swift.