prime the pump
Meanings
verb
- To engage in deficit spending.
- To give something in order to create the conditions where others will give in return.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see prime, the, pump.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
As an idiomatic term, from the 1930s. From the metaphor of filling (priming) a liquid pump in order to prepare it for operation.
Related words
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