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bum

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bum¹

  • /bʌm/

Rhymes with -ʌm

Where it comes from

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”).

The anal sex senses (noun and verb), as well as the adjective (esp. the first) sense, are expletive-avoiding (i.e. Bowdlerized) shortenings of bumfuck.

noun bums

  1. Commonwealth, childish, informal The buttocks. Okay, everyone sit on your bum and try and touch your toes.
  2. Commonwealth, childish, informal, specifically The anus. John said that when he was little he stuck his finger in his bum and tasted his poopies and it was good.
  3. East Midlands, slang, vulgar An act of anal sex. Go for a bum

verb bums · bumming · bummed

  1. Ireland, UK, colloquial, transitive To sodomize; to engage in anal sex. Your bars are fake and my bars are real; / Is it true you got bummed on a field?

interjection

  1. Ireland, UK, childish, euphemistic An expression of annoyance. (more vulgar)

bum²

  • /bʌm/

Rhymes with -ʌm

Where it comes from

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

noun bums

  1. colloquial, derogatory, sometimes A homeless person, usually a man.
  2. also, broadly, colloquial, derogatory, sometimes A lazy, incompetent, or annoying person, usually a man. Fred is becoming a bum—he’s not even bothering to work more than once a month.
  3. colloquial A player or racer who often performs poorly. Trade him to another team, he’s a bum!
  4. colloquial A drinking spree.

verb bums · bumming · bummed

  1. colloquial, transitive [with off or (nonstandard) off of] To ask someone to give one (something) for free; to beg for something. Can I bum a cigarette off you?
  2. colloquial, intransitive To stay idle and unproductive, like a hobo or vagabond. I think I’ll just bum around downtown for a while until dinner.
  3. UK, colloquial, slang, transitive To wet the end of a marijuana cigarette (spliff).

adjective bummer · bummest

  1. colloquial, slang Of poor quality or highly undesirable. What kind of bum note was that??
  2. colloquial, slang Unfair. The union reps gave us a bum deal!
  3. colloquial, slang Injured and without the possibility of full repair, defective. I can’t play football anymore on account of my bum knee.
  4. colloquial, slang Unpleasant or unhappy. He had a bum trip on that mescaline.

bum³

  • /bʌm/

Rhymes with -ʌm

Where it comes from

Back-formation from bum out.

verb bums · bumming · bummed

  1. colloquial, slang To depress; to make unhappy.

bum⁴

  • /bʌm/

Rhymes with -ʌm

Where it comes from

See boom.

noun bums

  1. colloquial, dated, slang A humming noise.

verb bums · bumming · bummed

  1. colloquial, intransitive, slang To make a murmuring or humming sound. English men bum there [Stirling] as thick as bees.

bum⁵

  • /bʌm/

Rhymes with -ʌm

Where it comes from

Abbreviation.

noun bums

  1. colloquial, obsolete, slang A bumbailiff. About her Chariot, and behind, / Were Sergeants, Bums of every kind, / Tip-staffs, and all those Officers, / That squeeze a Living out of Tears.

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