bumper n Cp OED ~ sb¹ 2 'anything unusually large' for sense 1; cp OED 1 'cup ... filled to the brim'; 2 'anything unusually abundant' for sense 4.
   1 A large mass or chunk of snow.
   P 148-65 Snow bumpers [are] large, hard chunks of snow-the sort that might get jammed underneath car in a driveway. 1966 Evening Telegram 8 Feb, p. 15 You never see them makin' bumpers or snowmen. P 25-73 Bumpers are the large blocks of snow [lifted] when shovelling.
   2 In sledding, a hump followed by a sudden dip; a bump.
   [c1945] TOBIN 38 "Coasting on Stretton's Hill, Hr. Grace": There was no place in Town / Could give such breathless pleasure... / Especially when a 'bumper' made it more thrilling still.
   3 Home-grown potato of inferior quality.
   C 71-24 The better quality potatoes were known as apples. The bumpers were an inferior quality.
   4 Attrib in designations of a fishing or sealing season, vessel or 'voyage' resulting in a full catch or load.
   1872 Newfoundlander 2 Apr There were several bumper trips at the wharves. 1905 MURPHY 10 May [The sealers] return with bumper trips. 1922 Sat Ev Post 2 Sep, p. 123 The Dominion's prosperity hangs largely on the annual hunt. A bumper fishery—for these people still insist that seals are fish—feeds thousands of hungry mouths ashore. 1924 ENGLAND 243 'Now den, me sons,' directed the Cap'n, 'let's see how quick ye can get a bumper trip o' fat.' [1926] 1946 PRATT 173 "The Cachalot": She had three thousand barrels stowed / Under the hatches, though she could, / Below and on her deck, have stood / Four thousand as her bumper load. [1929] 1933 GREENLEAF (ed) 282 "The Southern Cross": 'No doubt it is the Southern Cross,' the operator said, / 'And looking to have a bumper trip, and well down by the head.' T 342-671 A bumper trip is a full load. 1972 BROWN 47 They needed almost twice that number [of seals] for a 'bumper trip.'

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