Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to criticize, to abuse.

1826		Pierce Egan’s Life in London 11 June 574/1: [A]s Mr. Mellish was passing Mr. Wild's house, in a state of intoxication, he fell in against the window and broke some panes of glass, and on being requested to pay for repairing them, he became outrageous, and swore that he would not be dumped.
1942		in Craven & Cate AAF in WWII 467: Colonel, we are being dumped on [HDAS].
1965		H.S. Thompson letter 23 June in Proud Highway (1997) 527: My agent [...] who dumped on me two months ago, just sent me $400 to get my phone turned on.
1978		J. Webb Fields of Fire (1980) 32: It’s the tattoo. Every day he dumps on me for not rating it, but he digs it.
1986		C. Hiaasen Tourist Season (1987) 37: Wonderful, Keyes thought, the guy’s own lawyer is dumping on him.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 130: To dump on or all over [someone] is to criticize a person severely or to overwhelm the person with complaints.
1990		R.G. Barratt ‘Bore It Up ’em, Bruce’ in What Do You Reckon (1997) [ebook] [I]t’s very trendy and self-righteous to dump on blokes like [conservatives] Bruce Ruxton and Geoff Blainey.
1993		L. Rodríguez Always Running (1996) 32: My dad was dumped on for not finding work.
1999		Guardian G2 8 July 6: Hacks drank the free booze, scoffed the free food then dumped on the event in the diary columns.
2005		Mad mag. Jan. 13: I dump on those below me and never disagree with those above me.

2. to better in an argument; thus dumped on, abused, out-argued.

1963		H.S. Thompson letter 25 Oct. in Proud Highway (1997) 406: And me too. I’m not dumping on you, old sport! – just giving the needle.
1970		(con. 1950s) H. Junker ‘The Fifties’ in Eisen Age of Rock 2 (1970) 100: Finally gonna shut you down. Dump all over you.
1998		B. Hubbard Substantial Evidence 198: To have a client who is truly innocent and has been dumped on by the system is the ultimate call to battle for a lawyer.

3. to reject, e.g. a lover, an application to join a club or fraternity etc.

1963		Dundes & Schonhorn ‘Kansas University Sl.: A New Generation’ in AS XXXVIII:3 171: A boy so treated [i.e. rejected] is said to have been dumped on, flushed or shit on.
1978		A. Maupin Tales of the City (1984) 57: ‘He was a nice guy, Mona.’ ‘Which is why he dumped on you.’.
1991		D. Jenkins You Gotta Play Hurt 276: ‘Dad, you will be happy to hear I am dumping on the pyramids [i.e. a course in archaeology]. I have decided to stick in there and get a business degree’.

4. to impose oneself or one’s emotions on another person.

1994		S. & R. Pressman Narcissistic Family 73: Her mother then started to call one of Mary’s sisters and dump on her instead. As Mary said, ‘Now it’s my sister’s problem.’.
2000		B. & P. Farrel Love, Honor and Forgive 152: She had her whole family trained to dump on her.
2012		S. Blass Pirate for Life 12: I was trying hard to figure everything out and what was happening to me. I didn’t want to dump it all on my family or my teammates.
2024		D. Swierczynski California Bear 138: ‘I’m not okay. But I don’t want to dump on you’.

5. to shoot dead, to wound.

1987

(con. 1967) E. Spencer Welcome to Vietnam (1989) 58: Make you men hit back. Dump on ’em. Burn ’em. Light ’em up! [Ibid.] 123: Two of my guys get dumped on because that motherfucker wants his plan followed.