jump ship
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
To leave a job, organization, or activity suddenly.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
It told of his trouble with a crew - member as the ship neared the South American port at Colombia.
Although the very thought of court action had brought him out in a cold sweat, the same grittiness which had enabled his father to jump ship and seek a new life now came to his rescue.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Imported from Wikipedia “English-language idioms” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29), pending review. Figurative class: Euphemism (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “jump ship” mean?
To leave a job, organization, or activity suddenly.
Is “jump ship” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.