jump the gun
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Irrationally hasty.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
IN SPITE OF Tuesday's lively sale of sheep quota at Lanark, top price £46, doubts remain among some farmers and other marts that their colleagues may have jumped the gun, writes Fordyce Maxwell.
I was once advised that the best way to avoid jumping the gun during intercourse was to concentrate on an image that offered the minimum in erotic possibilities.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Euphemism (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Equivalents & related
Near equivalent
cầm đèn chạy trước ô tô
to jump the gun, to get ahead of oneself
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
get ahead of oneself
To do or plan something too quickly, before being ready
English · via cầm đèn chạy trước ô tô
Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.
Common questions
What does “jump the gun” mean?
Irrationally hasty.
Is “jump the gun” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“cầm đèn chạy trước ô tô” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.