Meaning & use
a bumper crop
Last updated
Meaning
phrasecountable
A much larger amount of crops than usual, or a very large amount of something in general.
Grammar: Countable: 'a bumper crop', 'bumper crops'. Often followed by 'of' when used figuratively.
Patterns
- a bumper crop of something
- produce a bumper crop
- a bumper crop this year
Farmers are expecting a bumper crop of wheat this year.
The warm summer gave us a bumper crop of tomatoes.
The studio has released a bumper crop of new films.
Word forms
| plural | bumper crops |
|---|
Common combinations
- a bumper crop of
- There was a bumper crop of apples in the orchard.
- produce a bumper crop
- The new fertilizer helped the farm produce a bumper crop.
- expect a bumper crop
- Growers expect a bumper crop after the rainy spring.
- a bumper crop this year
- We had a bumper crop this year and sold most of it.
Synonyms and how they differ
- a record harvest
- More formal and often used in news reports; it suggests an official record, while 'bumper crop' just means unusually large.
- an abundance
- A general word for a large quantity; it does not specifically refer to crops.
Opposites
Commonly confused: a bumper crop or a bumper?
a bumper crop vs a bumper
A bumper is the bar at the front or back of a car. 'Bumper crop' is a fixed phrase and does not refer to cars.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'a bumper crop' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'A bumper crop' means a very large harvest, so 'a bumper crop of corn' fits. The other options either confuse it with a car bumper or use it in unnatural contexts.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a bumper crop”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.