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Bum

//bʌm// adj, intj, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of poor quality or highly undesirable. slang

    "bum note"

  2. 2
    Unfair. slang

    "a bum deal"

  3. 3
    Injured and without the possibility of full repair, defective. slang

    "I can’t play football anymore on account of my bum knee."

  4. 4
    Unpleasant or unhappy. slang

    "He had a bum trip on that mescaline."

Adjective
  1. 1
    of very poor quality; flimsy wordnet
Intj
  1. 1
    An expression of annoyance. Ireland, UK, childish, euphemistic

    "(more vulgar)"

Noun
  1. 1
    The buttocks. Commonwealth, childish, informal

    "Okay, everyone sit on your bum and try and touch your toes."

  2. 2
    A homeless person, usually a man. colloquial, derogatory, sometimes
  3. 3
    A humming noise. dated
  4. 4
    A bumbailiff. obsolete

    "About her Chariot, and behind, / Were Sergeants, Bums of every kind, / Tip-staffs, and all those Officers, / That squeeze a Living out of Tears."

  5. 5
    the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on wordnet
Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    The anus. Commonwealth, childish, informal

    "John said that when he was little he stuck his finger in his bum and tasted his poopies and it was good."

  2. 7
    A lazy, incompetent, or annoying person, usually a man. colloquial, derogatory, sometimes

    "Fred is becoming a bum—he’s not even bothering to work more than once a month."

  3. 8
    person who does no work wordnet
  4. 9
    An act of anal sex. East-Midlands, slang, vulgar

    "Go for a bum"

  5. 10
    A player or racer who often performs poorly. colloquial

    "Trade him to another team, he’s a bum!"

  6. 11
    a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible wordnet
  7. 12
    A drinking spree. colloquial
  8. 13
    a vagrant wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To sodomize; to engage in anal sex. Ireland, UK, colloquial, transitive

    "Your bars are fake and my bars are real; / Is it true you got bummed on a field?"

  2. 2
    To ask someone to give one (something) for free; to beg for something. colloquial, transitive

    "Can I bum a cigarette off you?"

  3. 3
    To depress; to make unhappy.
  4. 4
    To make a murmuring or humming sound. intransitive

    "English men bum there [Stirling] as thick as bees."

  5. 5
    ask for and get free; be a parasite wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    To stay idle and unproductive, like a hobo or vagabond. colloquial, intransitive

    "I think I’ll just bum around downtown for a while until dinner."

  2. 7
    be lazy or idle wordnet
  3. 8
    To wet the end of a marijuana cigarette (spliff). British, slang, transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

Attested since the 1300s, as Middle English bom (found in John Trevisa's 1387 Translation of the 'Polychronicon' of Ranulph Higden, "his bom is oute"), of uncertain origin. Sometimes suggested to be a shortening of botme, botom, bottum (“bottom”), but this is contradicted by the fact that bottom is not attested in reference to the buttocks until the late 1700s. Suggested by some old and modern references to be onomatopoeic. Compare also Old Irish, Scottish Gaelic bun (“base, bottom”).

Etymology 2

Attested since the 1300s, as Middle English bom (found in John Trevisa's 1387 Translation of the 'Polychronicon' of Ranulph Higden, "his bom is oute"), of uncertain origin. Sometimes suggested to be a shortening of botme, botom, bottum (“bottom”), but this is contradicted by the fact that bottom is not attested in reference to the buttocks until the late 1700s. Suggested by some old and modern references to be onomatopoeic. Compare also Old Irish, Scottish Gaelic bun (“base, bottom”).

Etymology 3

Attested since the 1300s, as Middle English bom (found in John Trevisa's 1387 Translation of the 'Polychronicon' of Ranulph Higden, "his bom is oute"), of uncertain origin. Sometimes suggested to be a shortening of botme, botom, bottum (“bottom”), but this is contradicted by the fact that bottom is not attested in reference to the buttocks until the late 1700s. Suggested by some old and modern references to be onomatopoeic. Compare also Old Irish, Scottish Gaelic bun (“base, bottom”).

Etymology 4

1864, back-formation from bummer, from German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“to loaf”).

Etymology 5

1864, back-formation from bummer, from German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“to loaf”).

Etymology 6

1864, back-formation from bummer, from German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“to loaf”).

Etymology 7

Back-formation from bum out.

Etymology 8

See boom.

Etymology 9

See boom.

Etymology 10

Abbreviation.

See also for "bum"

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