Phrasal verb
dump on
Definitions
01to give someone too much work
phr.v. to give someone a lot of difficult or boring work that you do not want to do yourself.
phr.v. to unfairly assign an excessive amount of work or responsibility to someone, typically without their consent.
“My boss always dumps all the boring paperwork on me at five o'clock.”
“The senior partners tended to dump the most tedious administrative tasks on the interns, leaving them little time for actual legal research.”
Informal
Usage
This is a transitive phrasal verb where the object (the work) usually sits between 'dump' and 'on'.
Synonyms
02to complain to someone
phr.v. to tell someone all your problems or worries in a way that makes them feel tired or stressed.
phr.v. to vent one's frustrations or emotional problems to another person extensively and often inconsiderately.
“I like helping my friends, but I don't want them to dump on me every single day.”
“She spent the entire lunch hour dumping on her colleague about her failing marriage and financial troubles.”
Informal · Slang
Usage
Usually takes a person as the direct object of the preposition 'on'.
03to treat badly
phr.v. to treat someone very poorly or criticize them unfairly.
phr.v. to treat a person with contempt or to criticize them harshly and unfairly.
“It felt like the whole team was dumping on him after he made that one mistake.”
“The media continued to dump on the young athlete long after the tournament had ended, focusing solely on his minor errors.”
Informal · Slang
Teaching tip
This sense is quite aggressive; learners should use it to describe unfair treatment rather than constructive criticism.
Synonyms
Teaching tip
highlight the informal, slightly aggressive tone; it can also mean 'to tell someone all your problems' (emotional dumping), but the 'unfair blame/work' sense is more common in workplace contexts.
Phrasal verb
Particles
on
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
dump + on + object
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/dump-on