Callithump
noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A somewhat riotous parade, accompanied with the blowing of tin horns and other discordant noises. US, colloquial, dated
"You probably don't know what callithump is, but you will find out if you undertake to hoe sod-ground potatoes in July. It has something to do with brazen trumpets and violence. I became acquainted with callithump when I straightened out the asparagus-bed."
- 2 a noisy mock serenade (made by banging pans and kettles) to a newly married couple wordnet
- 3 A burlesque serenade; a charivari. US, colloquial, dated
- 4 a noisy boisterous parade wordnet
Example
More examples"You probably don't know what callithump is, but you will find out if you undertake to hoe sod-ground potatoes in July. It has something to do with brazen trumpets and violence. I became acquainted with callithump when I straightened out the asparagus-bed."
Etymology
Uncertain. Perhaps from calli- + thump, or an alteration and backformation from "Gallithumpian", a Dorset and Devon word from 1790s for a society of radical social reformers, in reference to "noisy disturbers of elections and meetings
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.