Ad-free Patron: To remove ads or/and unlock premium content, subscribe today or learn more about the features.
JUMP in sign language

Whether you jump for joy or start your car engine, the signwords for them are not the same. There are several signs for "jump in which many involve classifiers.
ASL words for "jump"
How to sign "jump" in American Sign Language:
Definition: To spring into the air from the ground by the muscular action of feet and legs; leap.
Pronunciation (sign description): Dominant "V" hand, with tips of forefinger and middle finger in contact with non-dominant palm-up flat hand, moves up and lands onto the palm.
Contexts and/or usage examples: "My toddler just had her first jump today. What a milestone!", "jumped for joy at the news" (with intonation or facial expression and a bit of the modified movement).
Plural form: to spring into the air repeatedly (e.g. skipping).
Pronunciation (sign description): Dominant "V" hand, with tips of forefinger and middle finger pointing down in contact with non-dominant palm-up flat hand, moves up and lands onto the palm twice.
Contexts and/or usage examples: "Stop jumping on the bed!"
Beyond basics
For other meanings not related to legs moving up and down, use different ASL signs/words.
Meaning: To start (a vehicle) using jumper cables.
Meaning: to pass abruptly from one idea or subject to another. E.g. "the teenager jumped backward and forward in his narrative".
Meaning: to skip over part of something on to a further point.
Meaning: to rise suddenly by a large amount. E.g. "exports jumped by 150%". See INCREASE, RISE, SOAR, SURGE.
Classifiers
Beyond the novice level, learners may learn how to use classifiers with the basic understanding of how classifiers work that they would be able to do classifiers. Here are some examples when classifiers are most likely used.
Phrases: "jump up onto the table", "jump over the fence", "jump through the hoop", "jumped twenty feet in the long jump", "the cat jumped out of a fourth-floor window"...
Related signs
Synonyms: POUNCE, HOP, LEAP, PRANCE, BOUND.
Opposite: CRAWL.
Word Play
Animated ASL written word, 2022. Experimental.