Rumpus
noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A noisy, sometimes violent disturbance; noise and confusion; a noisy quarrel or brawl.
""I'd like to know how on earth we are going to finish the case with all this umptydoodle rumpus going on.""
- 2 the act of making a noisy disturbance wordnet
- 3 A rumpus room. Australia, Canada, New-Zealand
Verb
- 1 To cause a noisy disturbance or commotion. informal, intransitive
"All night, as wide awake as gnats, The terriers rumpused after rats, Or, just for practice, taught their brats, To worry cast-off shoes and hats."
- 2 cause a disturbance wordnet
Example
More examples""I'd like to know how on earth we are going to finish the case with all this umptydoodle rumpus going on.""
Etymology
Unknown. First use appears c. 1745. The OED indicates: "perhaps an arbitrary formation". Possibly an alteration of rumbustical or rumbustious (“boisterous, noisy”) + Latin -us (“nominative suffix”). The use of the verbal form first appears c. 1839.