bumn.1int.2
/bʌm/, U.S. /bəm/, Irish English /bʌm/, Australian English /bʌm/, New Zealand English /bʌm/, Canadian English /bʌm/ Chiefly British, Irish English, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian.Not in widespread use in the United States.Generally regarded as colloquial or coarse until the 20th cent., although now chiefly used or regarded as a restrained alternative to words such as arse, ass, jacksie, tush, etc. Cf. backside n. 3, bottom n. 8.
A. n.1† 3. Scottish. derogatory. A lazy, unkempt, or ungraceful woman. Obsolete. Eng. Dial. Dict. (1898) records this sense as in use in Galloway at that time.The earlier phrases with similar meaning, batie-bum and blaitie bum, appear to be unrelated, although the meaning of bum within those phrases is uncertain. See batie bum n., blaitie bum n.
1. † b. The female genitals. Cf. bumfiddle v. 2, bumble v.3, bumble broth n. 2. Obsolete.Only in sexual contexts; some examples may refer to anal sex and may therefore represent sense A. 1a. Contrast with the much later front bum (see front bum n. at front n. Additions), which is not typically used in sexual contexts.
a. A person's buttocks; the bottom, the backside. Also: the anus; the rectum. Also occasionally: an animal's rump, anus, or rectum.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > back > buttock(s) > [noun]
flitcha700
arse-endseOE
culec1220
buttockc1300
tail1303
toutec1305
nagea1325
fundamentc1325
tail-end1377
brawna1382
buma1387
bewschers?a1400
crouponc1400
rumplec1430
lendc1440
nachec1440
luddocka1475
rearwarda1475
croupc1475
rumpc1475
dock1508
hurdies1535
bunc1538
sitting place1545
bottom?c1550
prat1567
nates1581
backside1593
crupper1594
posteriorums1596
catastrophe1600
podex1601
posterior1605
seat1607
poop1611
stern1631
cheek1639
breeka1642
doup1653
bumkin1658
bumfiddle1661
assa1672
butt1675
quarter1678
foundation1681
toby1681
bung1691
rear1716
fud1722
moon1756
derrière1774
rass1790
stern-post1810
sit-down1812
hinderland1817
hinderling1817
nancy1819
ultimatum1823
behinda1830
duff?1837
botty1842
rear end1851
latter end1852
hinder?1857
sit1862
sit-me-down1866
stern-works1879
tuchus1886
jacksy-pardy1891
sit-upon1910
can1913
truck-end1913
sitzfleisch1916
B.T.M.1919
fanny1919
bot1922
heinie1922
beam1929
yas yas1929
keister1931
batty1935
bim1935
arse-end1937
twat1937
okole1938
bahookie1939
bohunkus1941
quoit1941
patoot1942
rusty-dusty1942
dinger1943
jacksie1943
zatch1950
ding1957
booty1959
patootie1959
buns1960
wazoo1961
tush1962
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 357 It semeþ þat his bom is oute þat haþ þat evel [sc. ficus, i.e. piles; no corresponding sentence in the Latin original].
a1547 J. Redford Moral Play Wit & Sci. (1848) 20 I woold thy mother had kyst thy bum!
1550 R. Crowley One & Thyrtye Epigrammes sig. Dviii A bumbe lyke a barrell wyth whoopes at the skyrte.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 53 Sometime, for three foote stoole, mistaketh mee: Then slippe I from her bumme, downe topples she. View more context for this quotation
1638 A. Read Treat. 1st Pt. Chirurg. xii. 97 To pull the feathers from the bummes of hens or cocks.
1655 L. P. Witch of Woodlands 12 Thee Wolfe bit him by the throat, the Beare bit him by the bum, and the Cat bit him by the members.
1732 Spiritual Fornication 21 Her Bum He kiss'd, and eke her modicum.
?a1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 197 Many a tatter'd rag hanging over my bum.
1891 Tyneside Songs (rev. ed.) 113 Thy wit could not save the good breeches That mensefully cover'd thy bum.
1942 P. Larkin Let. 8 Nov. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 47 After a particularly good game of rugger A man called me a bugger Merely because in a loose scrum I had my cock up his bum.
1963 P. White Let. 8 May (1994) viii. 230 They are only good for sitting on their bums in Athens, chattering.
1976 P. N. Gwynne Firmly by Tail ix. 203 They sent a petition to the ambassador. Who probably wiped his bum with it.
1992 Independent (Nexis) 7 July 16 All men are a waste of time; you've just got to find one with a nice bum.
2003 Glamour Aug. 284/3 I got stung on the bum by a wasp.
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the world > life > the body > sex organs > female sex organs > [noun]
cuntc1230
quivera1382
chosec1386
privy chosea1387
quoniamc1405
naturec1470
shell1497
box1541
water gate1541
mouth1568
quiver case1568
water gap1586
cunnya1593
medlar1597
mark1598
buggle-boo1600
malkin1602
lap1607
skin coat1611
quim1613
nest1614
watermilla1626
bum1655
merkin1656
twat1656
notch1659
commodity1660
modicum1660
crinkum-crankum1670
honeypot1673
honour1688
muff1699
pussy1699
puss1707
fud1771
jock1790
cock?1833
fanny?1835
vaginac1890
rug1893
money-maker1896
Berkeley1899
Berkeley Hunt1899
twitchet1899
mingea1903
snatch1904
beaver1927
coozie1934
Sir Berkeley1937
pocketbook1942
pranny1949
zatch1950
cooch1955
bearded clam1962
noonie1966
chuff1967
coozea1968
carpet1981
pum-pum1983
front bum1985
coochie1986
punani1987
front bottom1991
va-jay-jay2000
1655 in J. Mennes & J. Smith Musarum Deliciæ 31 A Lord of this Land that lov'd a Bum well, Did lie with this Mort one night in the Strummel.
c1685 Present State Matrimony (Harl. 7317) in G. Williams Dict. Sexual Lang. (1994) I. 171 Takes up her smock and lets all people come With lewd intent into her Active Bum.
1719 T. Durfey Pills to Purge (ed. 4) I. 144 Though twenty Demi-Cannon Still were mounted at her Bum.
1762 T. Bridges Homer Travestie I. iv. 189 With nimble bum, or nimbler wrist, She guides his weapon where she list.
c. The part of a pair of trousers, or a similar garment, which covers the buttocks; the seat of the trousers.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers > parts of > seat
doup1819
seat1834
slack1848
arse?1859
ass1888
bum1949
1949 R. C. Hutchinson Elephant & Castle xxiv. 270 So we stick him up on the pianer, and she hang on to the bum of his trouses to keep him fixed, and I stand up close in case the little bastard fall down an' get his self broke.
1991 E. K. Goodman In Days of Awe xii. 119 A little long, loose-waisted, but attractively tight in the bum.
2004 R. Young Shooting Stars 86/1 I accidentally ripped the bum of my tights and had to send out for a new pair.
d. colloquial (chiefly British and Australian). With preceding modifying word: the lower half of a two-piece set of clothing. Chiefly in plural. Originally and chiefly in trackie bums. Cf. bottom n. 16.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > other
netOE
sheepskinc1175
tail1297
panec1300
slipc1440
cukera1500
peak1509
waist1590
bumbarrel1609
winglet1611
armhole1731
fullness1792
stride1807
bottom1820
patte1835
buckling1861
ventilator1870
tie-back1880
shield1884
organ pleat1886
outer1904
flarea1910
uplift1929
1996 Eastern Courier Messenger (Adelaide) 6 Mar. 15/3 Our politicians spend their adult lives wielding their egos... But in the end, their dreams all hinge on this—a bunch of sleepy punters, in their shorts or tracky bums..,wielding their pencils like chainsaws [in the polling booths].
2010 Times (Nexis) 7 Apr. 3 Designer versions of the lowly trackie-bum started emerging last year... The fashion trackie-bum is everywhere.
2012 @SophieeCadiz 13 Apr. in twitter.com (accessed 10 Mar. 2022) Oh good god i've been wearing bikini bums instead of knickers all day.
2021 Sc. Daily Mail (Nexis) 10 June 42 Lycra..has the advantage of making you look purposeful and active..unlike trackie bums, which have a box-set-and-takeout-slob vibe.
2. derogatory. A bailiff empowered to execute writs and warrants, esp. to collect debts or arrest debtors for non-payment; = bum-bailiff n. Also: a bailiff's assistant. See also bum-bailey n. Now English regional.In quot. 1659 punning on sense A. 1; the work is a satirical attack on the Rump Parliament (see rump n.1 Compounds 2) in which rump and other words with the meaning ‘bottom’ are used punningly.
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society > law > administration of justice > one who administers justice > an officer of the court > [noun] > official who executes orders of court > bailiff
beadlec1000
ridemanlOE
cacherela1325
outrider1332
bailiff1377
catchpolea1382
bailiec1386
officer?1387
sheriff's manc1400
attacher1440
messenger1482
tipped staffc1500
servitor1527
bailie-errant1528
processar1534
bum-bailiff1560
tipstaff1570
nut-hook1600
saffo1607
servera1612
bailiff-errant1612
bum-bailey1615
process servera1616
buckle-bosom1622
bumbee1653
exploiter1653
moar1656
bum1659
bummer1675
bumbail1696
bulldog1699
sheriff's officer1703
bum-trap1749
bound-bailiff1768
shelly-coata1774
body snatcher1778
lurcher1785
fool-finder1796
messenger1801
bugaboo1809
borough-bailiff1812
sheriff mair1812
speciality1815
grab1823
legalist1835
candy man1863
writter1882
sheriff1928
1659 A. Brome Ratts rhimed to Death 3 Tom Scot for the Bum most stiffly did stand, Though once by a Bum he was fouly trapand.
1677 Poor Robin's Visions vi. 72 Two Baylifs and their Bums came drunk from a Bawdy-house.
1691 Long Vacation 1 The Bums press hard on Poor Debtor.
1790 W. Cowper Wks. (1836) VI. 315 Threatened with attorneys and bums.
1834 W. H. Ainsworth Rookwood II. iii. v. 339 Never snitch to bum or beak.
a1845 R. H. Barham House-warming!! in Ingoldsby Legends (1847) 3rd Ser. 299 Serjeant Barham with his bums and tip staves.
1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xvi. 214 The bums was in his house fer rent.
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 44/2 Bum, the Bailiff.
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society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > low or vulgar person > [noun]
gadlinga1300
geggea1300
churlc1300
filec1300
jot1362
scoutc1380
beggara1400
carla1400
turnbroach14..
villainc1400
gnoffc1405
fellowc1425
cavelc1430
haskardc1487
hastardc1489
foumart1508
strummel?a1513
knapper1513
hogshead?1518
jockeya1529
dreng1535
sneakbill1546
Jack1548
rag1566
scald1575
huddle and twang1578
sneaksby1580
companion1581
lowling1581
besognier1584
patchcock1596
grill1597
sneaksbill1602
scum1607
turnspit1607
cocoloch1610
compeer1612
dust-worm1621
besonioa1625
world-worma1625
besognea1652
gippo1651
Jacky1653
mechanic1699
fustya1732
grub-worm1752
raff1778
person1782
rough scuff1816
spalpeen1817
bum1825
sculpin1834
soap-lock1840
tinka1843
'Arry1874
scruff1896
scruffo1959
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Bum, a lazy, dirty, tawdry, careless woman; chiefly applied to those of high stature; as, ‘She's a perfect bum,’ i. e. a big, useless, indolent, sluttish woman, Galloway.
B. int.2
slang. Expressing mild frustration, annoyance, disagreement, regret, etc. Cf. arse int.
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1912 Pedagogical Seminary Mar. 96 Disapproval and disgust:—‘shucks,’..‘bum,’ ‘Oh fudge.’
1959 D. Hewett Bobbin Up (1961) 42 ‘You'll get your fingers caught in there one of these days...’ ‘Ah bum!’
1992 Jamboree Daily (Frankston, Victoria) 10 Jan. 2/2 He kept saying, ‘Hey sorry dere little fella,’ and ‘Oh bum, I did it again.’
2010 N. Shukla Coconut Unlimited ii. 46 What was it? Oh damn oh fumble oh bum..what was it?
Phrases
P1.
a.
bums on seats n. the audience at a theatre, cinema, or other entertainment, viewed as a source of income; (more generally) paying customers collectively. Frequently in to put (also get) bums on seats: to draw a sizeable audience, originally at a theatre or cinema; to fill places, esp. with paying customers.
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1973 Observer 25 Nov. 23 As long as there are enough ‘bums on seats’.
1979 Financial Times 24 Feb. 19 There's enough problems getting bums on seats in theatres.
1987 R. Curtis & B. Elton Blackadder the Third in R. Curtis et al. Blackadder: Whole Damn Dynasty (1998) 296/1 Oh, no—never upset the punters. Bums on seats, laddie, bums on seats.
2001 Racing Post (Nexis) 4 Dec. 11 Anything that involves..the spilling of blood is guaranteed to put bums on seats in cinemas.
2016 Irish Independent (Nexis) 2 Apr. (Sport section) 3 It is cold hard cash and potential bums on seats. Fail to make the Champions Cup and season ticket sales will suffer dramatically.
b.
bums in seats n. chiefly Canadian = bums on seats n. at Phrases 1a.
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1978 Southerly Sept. 258 ‘I know what the public wants,’ he insisted stubbornly. ‘I can always put bums in seats. That's what it's all about.’
1981 Canad. Theatre Rev. Spring 110 Criteria do indeed change..depending on such factors as..audience response (bums in seats), available funds, etc.
1998 M. McLauchlan Getting out of here Alive v. 242 Sports and show business—they were interchangeable. It was all about putting bums in seats in the long run.
2016 Edmonton Sun (Nexis) 26 June f4 That box office..represents a staggering amount in tickets sold and bums in seats.
P2.
Categories »
pain in the bum n. see pain n.1 6b.
P3. stick (also shove, etc.) it up your bum: expressing contemptuous dismissal or rejection. Also in other constructions with imperative force, as you (he, she etc.) can stick it up your (his, her, etc.) bum. Cf. stick (also shove, etc.) it up your arse at arse n. and int. Phrases 4b.
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1987 Canberra Times 13 Apr. 25/4 Sketches which rely on naughty words and expressions like ‘erection’ and ‘asshole’ and ‘bastard’ and ‘screw’ and ‘stick it up your bum’ have little novelty or impact in a society in which these words are always ringing in our ears in everyday conversation.
1996 A. Young Wicked in Silk viii. 159 She lowered her voice to a hissy whisper. ‘Why don't you go and find the prickly end of a pineapple and shove it up your bum?’
2000 This is Local London (Nexis) 27 Oct. The council can stick it up their bum.
2011 P. R. Hardy Last Man on Earth Club xiii. xvi 399 ‘Oh, shove it up your bum,’ said Elsbet.
Categories »
P4. kiss my bum: see kiss v. 6l. to think the sun shines out of a person's bum: see sun n.1 Phrases 2b(c)(ii). to take it up the bum: see take v. Phrases 1m.
Compounds
C1. Objective, as bum-delighting, bum-pincher, bum-wiggling, etc.See also earlier bum-beating n. at Compounds 2.
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?1725 Harangues Famous Mountebanks 19 I would not have you to think, I am any Upstart Glister-Pipe, Bum-Peeping Apothecary.
1782 J. Wolcot Lyric Odes to Royal Academicians i. 5 That easy bum-delighting thing, My Lords the Bishops ride—yclep'd a sack.
c1890 My Secret Life II. vi. 105 Bum-wagging indications told me she was coming.
1981 P. Larkin Let. 30 Mar. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 645 His father was a Fascist bum-pincher and his home joyless.
1991 Independent on Sunday 16 June 18/3 Walters, likewise, prepares for his arrival with an orgy of bum-scratching and a defeated tussle with her foundation garment.
2004 Voice 22 Mar. 9/2 New European directives get tough with the bum-pinching sexist at the photocopier.
2015 Evening Standard (Nexis) 13 Nov. 13 Breaking into a bum-wiggling MC Hammer shuffle.
C2. † bum-beating n. Obsolete the action of jostling or barging people in the street.In quot. a1625 referring to a wealthy woman travelling along a busy street in a coach and horses.† bum-blade n. Obsolete a large sword; cf. bum dagger n.† bum-creeper n. Obsolete a person who walks bent almost double.† bum dagger n. Obsolete a type of dagger; (probably) one carried in a sheath at the bottom of a person's back; (perhaps) a large dagger; cf. bum-blade n.† bum-grown adj. Obsolete having a large, fleshy bottom; cf. bum-thin adj.† bum-perisher n. slang Obsolete a short jacket, coat, etc.; cf. bum-freezer n., bum-shaver n., bum-starver n.† bum-proof adj. Obsolete rare (a) unaffected by thrashings administered by a schoolteacher; (b) English regional (Yorkshire) safe from arrest by the bailiff (see sense A. 2).† bum-thin adj. Obsolete having a narrow or scrawny bottom; cf. bum-grown adj.
bum bag n. (a) (British) (in plural except in attributive use) trousers or shorts (now dated); cf. bag n. 16; (b) a small bag or pouch incorporated in a belt worn round the waist or across the shoulder (originally designed for skiers and worn at the back, now typically used to carry money and other valuables when travelling); cf. fanny pack n. at fanny n.1 Compounds.In sense (b) not widely used in North American English, where fanny pack is the standard term.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > bag > [noun] > on belt, worn at back
bum bag1860
belt bag1872
belt pack1939
fanny pack1957
fanny belt1963
1860 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang (ed. 2) at Bum Bumbags, trowsers.
a1945 H. Nicolson in N. Rose Harold Nicolson (2005) xiv. 294 Philip walks into the dining room with only bum-bags on... I am disgusted and tell him to dress.
1951 W. R. Bracken Handbk. Ski-ing i. 20 A Rucksack is not necessary..but..a ‘Bumbag’, worn round the waist on a belt, is very useful for carrying bits and pieces.
1967 L. Deighton Expensive Place to Die xviii. 128 Little girls in bumbag trousers, lithe Danes, fleshy Greeks... Paris had them all that summer.
1989 Looks Dec. 54 Keep your essentials (cheque book, credit cards, bus pass, etc.) in a bum-bag for safety.
2014 Wilts. Times (Nexis) 20 June A man..threatened to punch him, before stealing his bum bag containing £30 and running off.
bum bandit n. slang (derogatory and offensive) a homosexual man.
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1972 C. Hobhouse Well-told Lie 146 ‘Guess who's coming back to haunt us?’ Nellie cried... ‘The bum bandit?’ Harriet returned. ‘Why's he coming back?’ ‘Is he a queer?’ Nellie asked solemnly.
2011 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 8 Dec. 3 The Facebook group named five soldiers who the creator said were gay, referring to them as ‘pillow biters’ and ‘bum bandits’.
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the world > movement > impact > striking > striking in specific manner > [noun] > striking with pushing action > pushing > jostling
jostling1580
bum-beatinga1625
thrumblinga1634
thrusting1641
jostlement1859
jostle1869
a1625 J. Fletcher Wit without Money (1639) iii. sig. E2v Can there be ought in this but pride of shew Lady, and pride of bum-beating.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > side arms > sword > [noun] > long or large sword
longswordc1275
slaugh-sword1548
slaughter sword1569
katana1613
bum-bladea1640
swinger1673
whanger1826
espadon1846
two-hander1888
a1640 P. Massinger City-Madam (1658) i. ii. 10 Draw my little rapier Against your bumb blades.
bum-brusher n. slang (now rare, chiefly historical) a schoolteacher, esp. one who favours corporal punishment.
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society > education > teaching > teacher > schoolteacher or schoolmaster > [noun] > flogging schoolmaster
trouncerc1630
bum-brusher1682
1682 W. Richards Wallography 22 We had scarce prim'd our Pipes, but in comes a Law-jobber, accompanied with the Bum-brusher, or School-master of the place.
1702 T. Brown et al. Lett. from Dead to Living 181 I was forc'd to turn Bum-brusher.
1809 Faction ii. 56 (note) What work made they not about..Roman Catholic seminaries, and schoolmasters?..Should not bumbrushers be represented as well as brewers?
1952 Pennsylvania Hist. 19 433 No bum-brusher who knew the younger Wheelers at school could miss the..permanent influence.
2014 S. Vernon Messiah iii Handel, he's worse than a bum brusher, he can be so fierce.
bum-brushing n. slang (now rare, chiefly historical) the action or practice of administering a beating on the bottom; (typically) corporal punishment by a schoolteacher; cf. earlier bum-brusher n.
ΚΠ
1700 G. Keith Rod for Trepidantium Malleus 13 Young Men of twenty or thirty years of Age, should better be wrought upon by Persuasion, than Bum-brushing.
1746 Gentleman's Mag. July 379/2 (subheading) Whether Bum-brushing raises the Genius of Youth.
1813 W. Terrot Let. 14 June in K. N. Cameron Shelley & his Circle (1970) III. 197 I am going to Grindon for this short Paedagogical Bum brushing Excursion.
1965 A. Fowkes New Face at Repton Hall 110 He's done the bum-brushing of late for our venerable old Doctor man.
bum cheek n. (in plural) the buttocks; (occasionally singular) either of the buttocks.
ΚΠ
c1890 My Secret Life I. xi. 314 Her bum-cheeks were presented to me.
1966 P. Whigham tr. Catullus Poems xxxiii. 90 Those manual depredations are common knowledge, the allurements of those bum-cheeks a drug on the market.
1999 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 13 Feb. (Spectrum section) 2 Sometimes they're frozen like that for hours at a time,..their full weight on one bum cheek.
2013 Irish Daily Mail (Nexis) 15 June 46 There are teenagers I see walking about the place who just shouldn't be wearing short shorts—bum cheeks hanging out are never a good look.
bum chum n. slang (chiefly derogatory and offensive) a homosexual man, esp. one viewed as the partner of another.
ΚΠ
1972 M. Pugh Murmur of Mutiny x. 85 I mean, we've got the usual quota of bum chums and it's cosy for them. Godfrey was a bit of an arse-bandit but I didn't feel we could set up home together.
1982 J. Meades in Harpers & Queen Jan. 132/2 The filth knows he done it. But our boy's got a close friend, a bum chum like, who's a stipe.
2004 D. King Jim Giraffe 18 ‘Put it this way. If he does exist,’ Jim says, twitching his ears, ‘He's a bum chum’. ‘A what?’ ‘A bum chum. A poof.’
2011 T. Ronald Becoming Nancy (2012) ix. 131 Maxie said to me, ‘Do you reckon people think we're bum chums?’
bum cleavage n. the cleft between a person's buttocks, as revealed by low-cut or badly fitting trousers; cf. builder's bum at builder n. Compounds 2a.
ΚΠ
1992 Wanted: Levis 502's in alt.folklore.urban (Usenet newsgroup) 29 June They..drop dowm [sic] to reveal bum cleavage.
2002 Bliss June 78/2 I was helping my dad deliver some magazines last weekend and we passed two builders, complete with beer guts and bum cleavage.
2016 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 30 Jan. 28 I once saw someone squat down in Asda to pick up a tin on the bottom shelf, exposing enough bum cleavage to park a Harley-Davidson in.
ΚΠ
a1652 R. Brome Eng. Moor iii. iii. 48 in Five New Playes (1659) All alike to me..from the huckle back'd Bum-creeper, To the streight spiny Shop-maid in St. Martins.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > side arms > knife or dagger > [noun] > types of
anlacec1300
misericord1324
bodkin1386
baselardc1390
popperc1390
wood-knife1426
spudc1440
pavade1477
bistoury1490
skene1527
dudgeon1548
sword dagger1567
machete1575
kris1589
bum dagger1596
stillado1607
stiletto1611
steelet1616
hanjar1621
pisaa1640
jockteleg1642
khanjar1684
bayonet1692
kuttar1696
parazonium1751
skene-ochles1754
scalping-knife1759
snick-a-snee1760
manchette1762
snickersnee1775
guard-dagger1786
boarding knife1807
scalp-knife1807
kukri1811
skene-dhu1811
parang1820
stylet1820
belt knife1831
bowie-knife1836
scalper1837
sheath-knife1837
toothpick1837
tumbok lada1839
snick-and-snee knife1843
tickler1844
bowie1846
toad-sticker1858
simi1860
scramasax1862
kinjal1863
left-hander1869
main gauche1869
aikuchi1875
tanto1885
toad-stabber1885
cinquedea1897
trench knife1898
puukko1925
panga1929
quillon dagger1950
flick-knife1957
ratchet knife1966
sai1973
ratchet1975
1596 T. Lodge Wits Miserie 39 Vp starts Cousenage wt a bum dagger.
1600 S. Rowlands Letting of Humors Blood iii. 57 The huge bum Dagger at his backe.
1636 W. Sampson Vow Breaker i. sig. B4v Two thousand hardy Scots, With glaved blades, bum daggers, and white Kerchers.
bum-face n. slang (derogatory) (a name for) an unattractive, despicable, or hated person.
ΚΠ
1919 E. O'Duffy Wasted Island iv. 67 After class Bernard was..overwhelmed with questions. ‘Why was Bumface so shirty?’ ‘What did you write?’
1951 W. Lewis Rotting Hill (1952) v. 163 The lady known in his private mind as ‘bum-face’ arranged yesterday's..pastry in the window.
2006 Chap Autumn 16/1 Some bearded men began angrily retorting ‘Bum-Face!’ to their tormentors.
bumfluff n. British (depreciative) sparse, downy facial hair, esp. the first beard growth of an adolescent boy; cf. peach fuzz n. 1.Probably from the resemblance to soft hair on the buttocks.
ΚΠ
1949 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 3) 1003/1 Bum-fluff, that unsightly hair which disfigures the faces of pubescent boys.
1984 S. Townsend Growing Pains Adrian Mole 178 You've been pampered enough. Now pull yourself together, and go and shave that bum-fluff off your face!
1991 S. Fry Liar (1992) ix. 246 Only the tiniest amount of bumfluff grew on his chin and when he shaved it off he was still as smooth as a ten-year-old.
2010 Daily Tel. 7 Dec. 31/1 Not so much as a wisp of bum fluff on their upper lips.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Hancher, Big haunched, well bumme-growne.
bum-numbing adj. (a) (of an event, activity, performance, etc.) requiring a person to sit for a long period of time; (hence) excessively lengthy, tedious; (b) (of seating) hard or otherwise uncomfortable to sit on.
ΚΠ
1973 Canberra Times 6 Feb. 15/8 ‘The Flight’ and ‘Solaris’..each need to leave more on the cutting-room floor... The effect is nothing more than bum-numbing.
1979 Observer 16 Dec. 18/4 I would suggest that its organisers..smash up the bum-numbing tip-up seats.
2002 N. Williams & V. Boone Loire (Lonely Planet) (ed. 2) 94 Seating can be bum-numbing; bring a cushion.
2005 Chat 1 Dec. 44/3 After a bum-numbing 10-hour flight, you'll always get a friendly welcome on this colourful island.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > jacket > short
roundabout1812
spencer1831
Eton jacket1850
Eton1885
bum-perisher1889
bum-shaver1889
perisher1889
bolero1892
bum-freezer1929
bum-starver1930
bum-freezer jacket1943
blouson1958
monkey jacket1968
Harrington1982
1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. (at cited word) Bum perisher, or shaver, a short-tailed coat.
1923 E. Pugh Secret Years i. 28 I saw his mob of boys—giggling, goggling boys in Eton collars and bum-perishers, grinning back at me.
ΚΠ
1783 ‘P. Pindar’ More Lyric Odes to Royal Academicians i. 6 Bum-proof to all the flogging of the schools.
1885 W. H. Burnett Broad Yorks. 37 Those 'at can pay for all they git Al allus stand bum-pruf.
bum roll n. now historical a stuffed pad tied around the waist beneath a skirt, gown, or petticoat to accentuate the shape of the hips or buttocks; cf. bustle n.2
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > underwear > [noun] > contrivance for expanding skirts > bustle, pads, or cushion
bum roll1602
roll1602
Scotch bum1607
Scotch fall1607
rump roll1707
rump1710
bustle1786
bustler1787
cushion1806
dress improver1842
improver1844
bishopa1860
tournure1872
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster ii. i. sig. Cv Before I disbast my selfe, from my Hood and my Fartingall, to these Bumrowles, and your Whale-bone Bodies. View more context for this quotation
1664 T. Killigrew Parsons Wedding iii. v, in Comedies & Trag. 117 Those vertues rais'd her from the flat Peticote, and Kercher, to the Gorget and Bum-roll.
1807 D. Hughson London IV. 553 Those dresses had been distinguished by an extension of the hips with fox-tails and bum-rolls.
1954 R. Davies Enthusiasms (1991) 155 This might be a bolster of horsehair, tied around the waist, and called a ‘hausse-cul’ in Europe, or a ‘bum-roll’ in England.
2013 B. Purdy Queen's Rivals 102 Sewing women flocked around my sisters, layering on the petticoats..and strapping on the padded bum rolls to lend an added fullness to their hips.
bum sex n. slang anal sex.
ΚΠ
1993 Re: a Turd Burglar asks what a Turd Burglar Is in alt.flame (Usenet newsgroup) 7 July How is it you know so much about the pleasures of bum sex, you sallow-skinned.., halitosis-ridden, lame excuse for a correspondance-school [sic] professor?
2007 Guardian (Nexis) 12 May (Guide Suppl.) 14 Susanne claims she can tell if someone enjoys bum sex by the smile on their face.
bum-shaver n. slang (now rare) a short jacket, coat, etc.; cf. bum-freezer n., bum-perisher n., bum-starver n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > jacket > short
roundabout1812
spencer1831
Eton jacket1850
Eton1885
bum-perisher1889
bum-shaver1889
perisher1889
bolero1892
bum-freezer1929
bum-starver1930
bum-freezer jacket1943
blouson1958
monkey jacket1968
Harrington1982
1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. (at cited word) Bum perisher, or shaver, a short-tailed coat.
1936 E. Waugh Waugh in Abyssinia 121 A gloomy, uniform row in white bum-shavers.
1965 A. Wall Long & Happy iv. 48 It would not be proper for me to take the boys to church in a ‘bum-shaver’, now more politely called a ‘sports jacket’.
bum-starver n. slang a short jacket, coat, etc.; cf. bum-freezer n., bum-perisher n., bum-shaver n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > jacket > short
roundabout1812
spencer1831
Eton jacket1850
Eton1885
bum-perisher1889
bum-shaver1889
perisher1889
bolero1892
bum-freezer1929
bum-starver1930
bum-freezer jacket1943
blouson1958
monkey jacket1968
Harrington1982
1930 O. Onions Open Secret i. 15 ‘Is it at Eton they wear toppers?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘And bum-starvers?’
2003 Derby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 22 Apr. 24 He had been..on an errand while wearing his school uniform, which included a ‘bum starver’.
ΚΠ
1596 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) ix. xlvii. 220 Supporters, Pooters, Fardingales aboue the Loynes to waire, That be she near so bombe-thin, yet she crosse-like seem's foure-squaire.
bum-trap n. slang (now historical and rare) a bailiff; (also) a bailiff's assistant; cf. bum-bailiff n., bum-bailey n.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > one who administers justice > an officer of the court > [noun] > official who executes orders of court > bailiff
beadlec1000
ridemanlOE
cacherela1325
outrider1332
bailiff1377
catchpolea1382
bailiec1386
officer?1387
sheriff's manc1400
attacher1440
messenger1482
tipped staffc1500
servitor1527
bailie-errant1528
processar1534
bum-bailiff1560
tipstaff1570
nut-hook1600
saffo1607
servera1612
bailiff-errant1612
bum-bailey1615
process servera1616
buckle-bosom1622
bumbee1653
exploiter1653
moar1656
bum1659
bummer1675
bumbail1696
bulldog1699
sheriff's officer1703
bum-trap1749
bound-bailiff1768
shelly-coata1774
body snatcher1778
lurcher1785
fool-finder1796
messenger1801
bugaboo1809
borough-bailiff1812
sheriff mair1812
speciality1815
grab1823
legalist1835
candy man1863
writter1882
sheriff1928
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. vii. iii. 18 The noble Bumtrap..into the Hands of the Goaler resolves to deliver his miserable Prey. View more context for this quotation
1821 P. Egan Life in London ii. i. 140 The sunshine of prosperity was now so complete, that not a single bum-trap had crossed the threshold of Dickey's door, in the way of private business, for many a long day past.
2014 S. Vernon Messiah xv. Harry recognises the reference to the sheriff's men, the ‘bum traps’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2022).
† bumn.3
Obsolete.
Apparently: a narrow, elongated section of pipe.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > conveyor > [noun] > conduit, channel, or tube > pipe > other parts of pipes
bum1570
nipple1574
rider1728
shoe1770
nose-pipe1787
tack1823
box valve1833
bell end1851
taft1877
taft joint1891
pipe ear1905
spud1905
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Piii v/2 Bum of a pipe, oblonga fistula.
1673 W. Hicks London Drollery 66 I have a gude Hank of Yarn, 'Tis three year since it was spun, With a pair of Socks for a Barn, And an end of awd Pipe Bum.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018).
bumn.4
/bʌm/, U.S. /bəm/, Scottish English /bʌm/ Scottish and English regional (northern). Now rare.
A humming, buzzing, or droning sound. Cf. bum v.2 1b, bumble n.1 3. Sc. National Dict. records this sense as in general Scottish use in the 1930s.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > continuous or protracted sound > [noun] > monotonous sound
bummingc1487
drone1568
unison1609
droning1646
monotony1706
bum1790
monody1849
tum-tum1859
thrum1883
thrumming1941
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > continuous or protracted sound > [noun] > monotonous sound > hum
humblingc1384
hummingc1440
hum1601
reel1747
reeling1747
bum1790
bumble1834
brum1842
1790 A. Shirrefs Poems 97 Bum of busy honey-bees Delights the ear!
1845 D. M. Moir Life Mansie Wauch (new ed.) vi. 26 The bum and bustle of the High Street.
1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 169 His drone its last deep bum hath bray'd, For Davie's dead.
1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. Bum, the humming or buzzing noise emitted by the bee, drone, or top.
1912 J. A. Duthie Rhymes & Reminisc. 18 Ne'er a bum comes frae the bees.
Phrases
ΚΠ
1749 Elegy Late Mass John T— xviii. 11 Ye're sitting there (quo' she) hum-drum, As ye could neither ba nor bum.]
1857 E. B. Ramsay Two Lect. on Some Changes in Social Life & Habits 22 They neither said ba nor bum.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† bumn.5
Cricket. Obsolete.
More fully bum ball. = bump ball n. at bump n.2 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > [noun] > types of stroke
long ball1744
nip1752
catch1816
no-hit1827
cut1833
short hit1833
draw1836
drive1836
square hit1837
skylarker1839
skyer1840
skyscraper1842
back-cut1845
bum1845
leg sweep1846
slog1846
square cut1850
driver1851
Harrow drive1851
leg slip1852
poke1853
snick1857
snorter1859
leg stroke1860
smite1861
on-drive1862
bump ball1864
rocketer1864
pull1865
grass trimmer1867
late cut1867
off-drive1867
spoon1871
push1873
push stroke1873
smack1875
Harrow drive1877
pull-stroke1880
leg glance1883
gallery-hit1884
boundary-stroke1887
glide1888
sweep1888
boundary1896
hook1896
leg glide1896
backstroke1897
flick1897
hook stroke1897
cover-drive1898
straight drive1898
square drive1900
edger1905
pull-drive1905
slash1906
placing stroke1907
push drive1912
block shot1915
if-shot1920
placing shot1921
cow-shot1922
mow1925
Chinese cut1937
haymaker1954
hoick1954
perhapser1954
air shot1956
steepler1959
mishook1961
swish1963
chop-
1845 Sportsman's Mag. 19 July 218/2 It is easy for a practised eye to detect a bound, or bum, ball... It rises in a very peculiar manner when struck on to the ground.
1867 Australasian 9 Mar. 300/4 The apparent sincerity of a..wicket-keeper, when appealing for a ‘leg before’, or a ‘bum’.
1883 School Mag. Oct. 239 The spectators..applauded manfully, paying special attention to bum balls.
1928 F. B. Young My Brother Jonathan i. ii. 22 You aren't out. It was a bum'ball. I saw it hit the matting.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018).
bumn.6
/bʌm/, U.S. /bəm/ Chiefly North American colloquial (originally U.S. slang).
I. U.S. A drinking spree, and related uses.† 1. A drinking spree. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > drinking-bout
cups1406
drinking?1518
banquet1535
Bacchanal1536
pot-revel1577
compotation1593
rouse1604
Bacchanalia1633
potmealc1639
bout1670
drinking-bout1673
carouse1690
carousal1765
drunk1779
bouse1786
toot1790
set-to1808
spree1811
fuddlea1813
screed1815
bust1834
lush1841
bender1846
bat1848
buster1848
burst1849
soak1851
binge1854
bumming1860
bust-out1861
bum1863
booze1864
drink1865
ran-tan1866
cupping1868
crawl1877
hellbender1877
break-away1885
periodical1886
jag1894
booze-up1897
slopping-up1899
souse1903
pub crawl1915
blind1917
beer-up1919
periodic1920
scoot1924
brannigan1927
rumba1934
boozeroo1943
sesh1943
session1943
piss-up1950
pink-eye1958
binge drinking1964
1863 W. Fisk Let. 4 Sept. in Anti-Rebel (1983) 146 One of these nights we are going out on a regular ‘bum’.
1885 E. Custer Boots & Saddles xx. 193 I intend to celebrate their return by going on a tremendous ‘bum’.
1890 Home Missionary Apr. 531 A Christian miner..kept his men at work on Sunday, thinking it preferable to the Sunday ‘bum’.
1909 ‘O. Henry’ Roads of Destiny xx. 363 All the heroes on the bum carry the little book.
2. College slang (chiefly at Yale University). A celebratory dinner or entertainment held by a student society. Now historical and rare.Outside Yale apparently only in peanut bum.
ΚΠ
1871 College Courant (Yale Univ.) 18 Mar. 132/2 The sophomore society of Phi Theta Psi held their anniversary ‘bum’ last Wednesday night.
1871 L. H. Bagg Four Years at Yale 153 Aside from the annual convention on Commencement night, there are two other ‘bums’ held during the year.
1873 Pot-pourri 1873–4 (Yale Univ.) 94 Delta Kap. had a bum and promenade.
II. Originally U.S. A tramp, a vagrant, and related uses.
3.
a. A tramp, a vagrant; a habitual loafer; a beggar; a scrounger. Cf. bummer n.3
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [noun] > lazy person > an idler or loafer
lurdanc1330
player1340
moochera1425
loon?c1450
lounger?a1513
idler1534
rest man1542
holiday-woman1548
baty bummill1568
bummill baty1568
friar-fly?1577
idol1579
lingerer1579
loll1582
idleby1589
shit-rags1598
blaitie bum1602
idle1635
Lollard1635
loiterer1684
saunterer1688
scobberlotchera1697
bumble1786
quisby1789
waffler1805
shoat1808
loafer1830
bummer1855
dead beat1863
bum1864
scowbanker1864
schnorrer1875
scowbank1881
ikey1906
layabout1932
lie-about1937
spine-basher1946
limer1964
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [noun] > without fixed aim or wandering > vagrancy or vagabondage > vagabond or tramp
harlot?c1225
raikera1400
vacabond1404
vagrant1444
gangrela1450
briber?c1475
palliard1484
vagabondc1485
rogue1489
wavenger1493
hermit1495
gaberlunzie1508
knight of the field1508
loiterer1530
straggler1530
runagate1534
ruffler1535
hedge-creeper1548
Abraham man1567
cursitor1567
runner1567
walker1567
tinker1575
traveller1598
Tartar1602
stravagant1606
wagand1614
Circumcellion1623
meechera1625
hedge-bird1631
gaberlunzie man1649
tramp1664
stroller1681
jockey1685
bird of passage1717
randy1724
tramper1760
stalko1804
vagabondager1813
rintherout1814
piker1838
pikey1838
beachcomber1840
roadster1851
vagabondizer1860
roustabout1862
bum1864
migratory1866
potter1867
sundowner1868
vag1868
walkabout1872
transient1877
Murrumbidgee whaler1878
rouster1882
run-the-hedge1882
whaler1883
shaughraun1884
heather-cat1886
hobo1889
tussocker1889
gay cat1893
overlander1898
stake-man1899
stiff1899
bindle-stiff1900
dingbat1902
stew-bum1902
tired Tim (also Timothy)1906
skipper1925
Strandlooper1927
knight of the road1928
hobohemian1936
plain turkey1955
scrub turkey1955
derro1963
jakey1988
crusty1990
1864 Gold Hill (Nevada) News 15 Apr. 5/1 The policemen say that even their old, regular and reliable ‘bums’ appear to have reformed.
1891 C. Roberts Adrift in Amer. 68 I don't believe in feeding professional bums.
1908 Daily Chron. 4 Aug. 5/3 The clergy in the town are worse than drunken ‘bums’.
1912 C. E. Mulford & J. W. Clay Buck Peters, Ranchman i. 27 I found myself in a cell in a Philadelphia jail, along with bums and crooks.
1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 152 Sam was walking along the street and a bum approached him for money.
1986 D. Leavitt Lost Lang. of Cranes (1987) 3 A bum covered by soggy shopping bags huddled in a closed storefront.
2016 N.Y. Post (Nexis) 6 Apr. 12 A drunken bum went to Tompkins Square Park on Tuesday to hear what [the mayor] had to say about homeless outreach—but he was thrown out before he could get the chance.
b. U.S. slang. An act of begging or scrounging. Chiefly in to put the bum on: to beg or scrounge from. Cf. earlier on the bum at Phrases 2. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1923 in N. Cohen Long Steel Rail (2000) viii. 361 She gave me cake and coffee, she treated me mighty fine, If I make another bum like this, I'll be bummin' all the time.
1935 E. Anderson Hungry Men i. 3 I just put the bum on a priest out there.
1957 H. Simmons Corner Boy i. xxxiii. 118 He tried to put the bum on me for a quarter.
1991 O. D. Brooks Legs xix. 179 They resent you putting the bum on them.
4. derogatory.
a. A worthless or contemptible person; a lazy or irresponsible person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [noun] > lazy person
caynard1303
sluggard1398
luskc1420
slugc1425
truantc1449
dawa1500
hummel?a1513
rook?a1513
wallydraigle?a1513
sloven1523
dronea1529
draw latch1538
slim1548
slouk1570
do-nothing1579
bumbiea1585
do-little1586
lazybones1593
luskin1593
do-naught1594
loiter-sack1594
bed-presser1598
lazy lizard1600
lazy-back1611
fainéant1618
nothing-do1623
trivant1624
slothful1648
lolpoop1661
tool1699
haggis1822
lazy-boots1832
lazy-legs1838
poke1847
never-sweat1851
slob1876
bum1882
haggis bag1892
lollop1896
trouble-shirker1908
warb1933
fuck-off1948
poop-butt1967
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > condition of being held in contempt > [noun] > state or quality of being contemptible > contemptible person
wormc825
wretchOE
thingOE
hinderlingc1175
harlot?c1225
mixa1300
villain1303
whelpc1330
wonnera1340
bismera1400
vilec1400
beasta1425
creaturec1450
dog bolt1465
fouling?a1475
drivel1478
shit1508
marmoset1523
mammeta1529
pilgarlica1529
pode1528
slave1537
slim1548
skit-brains?1553
grasshopper1556
scavenger1563
old boss1566
rag1566
shrub1566
ketterela1572
shake-rag1571
skybala1572
mumpsimus1573
smatchetc1582
squib1586
scabship1589
vassal1589
baboon1592
Gibraltar1593
polecat1593
mushroom1594
nodc1595
cittern-head1598
nit1598
stockfish1598
cum-twang1599
dish-wash1599
pettitoe1599
mustard-token1600
viliaco1600
cargo1602
stump1602
snotty-nose1604
sprat1605
wormling1605
brock1607
dogfly?1611
shag-rag1611
shack-rag1612
thrum1612
rabbita1616
fitchock1616
unworthy1616
baseling1618
shag1620
glow-worm1624
snip1633
the son of a worm1633
grousea1637
shab1637
wormship1648
muckworm1649
whiffler1659
prig1679
rotten egg1686
prigster1688
begged fool1693
hang-dog1693
bugger1694
reptile1697
squinny1716
snool1718
ramscallion1734
footer1748
jackass1756
hallion1789
skite1790
rattlesnake1791
snot1809
mudworm1814
skunk1816
stirrah1816
spalpeen1817
nyaff1825
skin1825
weed1825
tiger1827
beggar1834
despicability1837
squirt1844
prawn1845
shake1846
white mouse1846
scurf1851
sweep1853
cockroach1856
bummer1857
medlar1859
cunt1860
shuck1862
missing link1863
schweinhund1871
creepa1876
bum1882
trashbag1886
tinhorn1887
snot-rag1888
rodent1889
whelpling1889
pie eatera1891
mess1891
schmuck1892
fucker1893
cheapskate1894
cocksucker1894
gutter-bird1896
perisher1896
skate1896
schmendrick1897
nyamps1900
ullage1901
fink1903
onion1904
punk1904
shitepoke1905
tinhorn sport1906
streeler1907
zob1911
stink1916
motherfucker1918
Oscar1918
shitass1918
shit-face1923
tripe-hound1923
gimp1924
garbage can1925
twerp1925
jughead1926
mong1926
fuck?1927
arsehole1928
dirty dog1928
gazook1928
muzzler1928
roach1929
shite1929
mook1930
lug1931
slug1931
woodchuck1931
crud1932
dip1932
bohunkus1933
lint-head1933
Nimrod1933
warb1933
fuck-piga1935
owl-hoot1934
pissant1935
poot1935
shmegegge1937
motheree1938
motorcycle1938
squiff1939
pendejo1940
snotnose1941
jerkface1942
slag1943
yuck1943
fuckface?1945
fuckhead?1945
shit-head1945
shite-hawk1948
schlub1950
asswipe1953
mother1955
weenie1956
hard-on1958
rass hole1959
schmucko1959
bitch ass1961
effer1961
lamer1961
arsewipe1962
asshole1962
butthole1962
cock1962
dipshit1963
motherfuck1964
dork1965
bumhole1967
mofo1967
tosspot1967
crudball1968
dipstick1968
douche1968
frickface1968
schlong1968
fuckwit1969
rassclaat1969
ass1970
wank1970
fecker1971
wanker1971
butt-fucker1972
slimeball1972
bloodclaat1973
fuckwad1974
mutha1974
suck1974
cocksuck1977
tosser1977
plank1981
sleazebag1981
spastic1981
dweeb1982
bumboclaat1983
dickwad1983
scuzzbag1983
sleazeball1983
butt-face1984
dickweed1984
saddie1985
butt plug1986
jerkweed1988
dick-sucker1989
microcephalic1989
wankstain1990
sadster1992
buttmunch1993
fanny1995
jackhole1996
fassyhole1997
fannybaws2000
fassy2002
1882 Chicago Tribune 30 July 10/2 Instead of being, as he should be, far above the level of the ball-player, the umpire of today is far below that level, and properly belongs in the ‘bum’ category.
1904 ‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing iv. 81 The ungrateful turnkey, in his expansive moods, calls all the convicts ‘bums’.
1931 E. Linklater Juan in Amer. ii. iii. 75 I'll fix the dirty bum that framed me!
1968 S. Yurick Bag v. 168 Dead, you bum? I'll show you who's dead. I'll dead you.
1992 Matrix Fall 23/2 These are not the irresponsible actions of a group of lazy bums whose priority is their next welfare cheque.
2010 Atlantic Monthly Oct. 68/1 Those lazy, self-indulgent bums..who morphed into Wall Street greedheads.
b. U.S. slang. A sexually promiscuous woman; (sometimes) spec. a prostitute. Cf. tramp n.1 4b.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute
meretrixOE
whoreOE
soiled dovea1250
common womanc1330
putec1384
bordel womanc1405
putaina1425
brothelc1450
harlot?a1475
public womanc1510
naughty pack?1529
draba1533
cat1535
strange woman1535
stew1552
causey-paikera1555
putanie?1566
drivelling1570
twigger1573
punka1575
hackney1579
customer1583
commodity1591
streetwalker1591
traffic1591
trug1591
hackster1592
polecat1593
stale1593
mermaid1595
medlar1597
occupant1598
Paphian1598
Winchester goose1598
pagan1600
hell-moth1602
aunt1604
moll1604
prostitution1605
community1606
miss1606
night-worm1606
bat1607
croshabell1607
prostitute1607
pug1607
venturer1607
nag1608
curtal1611
jumbler1611
land-frigate1611
walk-street1611
doll-common1612
turn-up1612
barber's chaira1616
commonera1616
public commonera1616
trader1615
venturea1616
stewpot1616
tweak1617
carry-knave1623
prostibule1623
fling-dusta1625
mar-taila1625
night-shadea1625
waistcoateera1625
night trader1630
coolera1632
meretrician1631
painted ladya1637
treadle1638
buttock1641
night-walker1648
mob?1650
lady (also girl, etc.) of the game1651
lady of pleasure1652
trugmullion1654
fallen woman1659
girlc1662
high-flyer1663
fireship1665
quaedama1670
small girl1671
visor-mask1672
vizard-mask1672
bulker1673
marmalade-madam1674
town miss1675
town woman1675
lady of the night1677
mawks1677
fling-stink1679
Whetstone whore1684
man-leech1687
nocturnal1693
hack1699
strum1699
fille de joie1705
market-dame1706
screw1725
girl of (the) town1733
Cytherean1751
street girl1764
monnisher1765
lady of easy virtue1766
woman (also lady) of the town1766
kennel-nymph1771
chicken1782
stargazer1785
loose fish1809
receiver general1811
Cyprian1819
mollya1822
dolly-mop1834
hooker1845
charver1846
tail1846
horse-breaker1861
professional1862
flagger1865
cocodette1867
cocotte1867
queen's woman1871
common prostitute1875
joro1884
geisha1887
horizontal1888
flossy1893
moth1896
girl of the pavement1900
pross1902
prossie1902
pusher1902
split-arse mechanic1903
broad1914
shawl1922
bum1923
quiff1923
hustler1924
lady of the evening1924
prostie1926
working girl1928
prostisciutto1930
maggie1932
brass1934
brass nail1934
mud kicker1934
scupper1935
model1936
poule de luxe1937
pro1937
chromo1941
Tom1941
pan-pan1949
twopenny upright1958
scrubber1959
slack1959
yum-yum girl1960
Suzie Wong1962
mattress1964
jamette1965
ho1966
sex worker1971
pavement princess1976
parlour girl1979
crack whore1990
1923 E. L. Rice Adding Machine i. 6 The dirty bum! The idea of her comin' to live in a house with respectable people.
1966 J. Susann Valley of Dolls 230 What do you think I am? Some kind of a bum? I'm a one-man woman.
1985 G. Paley Later Same Day 33 She had a sister who was also a bum.
2003 S. Hodel Black Dahlia Avenger xxix. 384 LAPD detective Harry Hansen dealt the final blow: ‘She was a bum and a tease.’
5. derogatory or depreciative.
a. A second-rate racehorse.
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1915 C.E. Van Loan in Collier’s 6 Nov. 9/3 A month ago Fairfax was a bum; now he's pretty near a stake horse and getting better every time he starts.
2011 S. O'Brien Bullet Work xii If the trainer said the horse was a bum, he'd cut off part of his revenue potential, even though it might be in the owner's best interest.
b. An unskilled or second-rate boxer.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > boxing > [noun] > boxer > types of
bruiser1744
ruffian1791
in-fighter1812
punisher1812
nobber1821
receiver general1821
slogger1829
slogster1881
ham1888
slaughterer1896
pushover1908
bum1917
mauler1920
palooka1920
round heel1926
set-up1926
powder puff1931
spoiler1948
kick-boxer1978
stiff1989
1917 C. E. Van Loan in Collier’s 3 Feb. 15/1 ‘Why not fight some of these guys?’..‘Dubs!’ interrupted the manager. ‘Bums!’
1973 F. Patterson in P. Heller In this Corner 344 Wait a minute. He knocked out a bum. A guy's a great fighter because he knocks out a bum?
2016 Sheffield Tel. (Nexis) 8 June I won't fight bums like some people in Sheffield do. I only want to fight the best.
6. In weakened use with preceding noun. A person for whom a specified pastime is a means of subsistence or a focus of attention. Also: a person who frequents a specified type of place to engage in a pastime.Typically with the implication of aimlessness or idleness in other aspects of life.beach, ski, surf bum: see the first element.
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1930 Washington Post 22 Aug. 6/6 I am quitting lawn tennis because I do not want to become a tennis bum.
1948 Kenosha (Wisconsin) Evening News 22 May 4/3 What is the cause of the average high score of the beginner, duffer, or hardened golf bum?
1981 Washington Post 21 Feb. d1/1 I was more like a racetrack bum... When I was 16 I was cutting classes to go to Aqueduct.
2001 Wall St. Jrnl. 19 Nov. a22/3 McGonigle..figured Sam was ‘an airport bum’ who liked to hang around airplanes.
2010 P. Smith Just Kids 91 Guitar bums and stoned-out beauties in Victorian dresses.
Phrases
P1.
the bum's rush n. (also occasionally the bums' rush) forcible ejection from a place or gathering; (more generally) abrupt dismissal or rejection. Chiefly in to give a person the bum's rush.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > let or send out [verb (transitive)] > expel > specific people from a place, position, or possession
outshoveOE
to do out of ——OE
shovec1200
to put out of ——c1225
to cast out1297
void13..
usurpa1325
to put outa1350
outputa1382
outrayc1390
excludea1400
expulse?a1475
expel1490
to shut forth1513
to put forth1526
to turn out1546
depel?1548
disseisin1548
evict1548
exturb1603
debout1619
wincha1626
disseise1627
out-pusha1631
howster1642
oust1656
out1823
purge1825
the bum's rush1910
outplace1928
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > [noun] > expulsion or driving out > specific people from a place, position, or possession > ignominious or forcible
drumming1541
outkicking1883
the bum's rush1910
1910 ‘Tad’ in N.Y. Evening Jrnl. 7 Oct. 18/3 (comic strip) Suddenly she goes plumb nutty, wallops my noodle and gives me the bum's rush.
1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xix. 211 Night club customers don't often require the bums' rush.
1971 P. G. Wodehouse Much Obliged, Jeeves ix. 92 He thinks Florence will give him the bum's rush if he loses.
2007 C. MacFarlane Real Gorbals Story (2009) xv. 119 When he had to throw people out..he gave them the bum's rush through the door.
P2. on the bum.† b. U.S. On a drinking spree; drunk. Obsolete.
a. U.S. That is living as a tramp or vagrant; (sometimes) spec. supporting oneself by begging rather than working; (more generally) on the scrounge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > in disorder [phrase]
at or on six and sevenOE
out of kinda1375
out of rulea1387
out of tonea1400
out of joint1415
out of nockc1520
out of tracea1529
out of order1530
out of tune1535
out of square1555
out of kilter1582
off the hinges?1608
out of (the) hinges?1608
in, out of gear1814
out of gearing1833
off the rails1848
on the bumc1870
the mind > possession > poverty > in impoverished state [phrase] > vagrant or begging
on the bumc1870
c1870 Fred Shaw's Champion Comic Melodist 36 Now all you coves, that's on the bum, Make all your cronies mizzle, And to the Mission house do come, For I tell you, ‘that's the chisel.’
1896 Appleton's Pop. Sci. Monthly Dec. 253 It's gittin' so a respectable 'boe can't get a hand out anywhere no more. This whole d–– country is on the bum.
1932 J. T. Farrell Young Lonigan vii. 290 He vowed he'd blow the place, and go on the bum.
1967 S. Terkel Division Street xix. 322 He recounts his years on the bum.
1991 O. D. Brooks Legs Prol. 8 At the rate I'm giving my meat away I'll be on the bum myself.
2006 S. Gruen Water for Elephants iv. 52 I been on the bum and it ain't no life.
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1891 J. Maitland Amer. Slang Dict. 52 On the bum, on a drunk.
1900 E. H. Babbitt College Words & Phrases in Dial. Notes 2 25 On the bum, drunk.
c. Chiefly U.S. In bad condition; in a state of disrepair; not working properly, defective; injured. Cf. bum adj. 1, on the blink at blink n.2 1d.
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1896 G. Ade Artie iii. 28 I sized it up that the house was on the bum and she didn't want me to see it.
1909 N.Y. Herald 26 Sept. (Comic section) 4/1 Your gun is on the bum Doc!
1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) ix. 185 Trade is strictly on the bum.
1934 H. Miller Tropic of Cancer 150 Her stomach's already on the bum.
1968 G. Cuomo Among Thieves xv. 357 Tell them the electricity's on the bum.
1987 E. Newby Round Ireland in Low Gear (1988) ii. 23 This in turn affected the alignment of the front derailleur which shifted mechanisms that went on the bum.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
bumadj.
/bʌm/, U.S. /bəm/ slang (originally U.S.).
1.
a. Of poor or inferior quality; bad, unsatisfactory, second-rate.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > wretchedness > [adjective]
unledeeOE
sorryOE
evila1131
usellc1175
wanlichec1275
bad1276
sorry1372
meana1375
caitiff1393
loddera1400
woefula1400
foulc1400
wretched1450
meschant?1473
unselc1480
peevisha1522
miser1542
scurvy?1577
forlorn1582
villainous1582
measled1596
lamented1611
thrallfula1618
despicable1635
deplorable1642
so-and-so1656
poorish1657
squalida1660
lamentable1676
mesquina1706
shan1714
execrable1738
quisby1807
hole in the wall1822
measly1847
bum1878
shag-bag1888
snidey1890
pathetic1900
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > mediocrity > [adjective] > second- or third-rate
second-rate1669
third-rate1814
secondary1827
bum1878
low-grade1878
off-brand1929
pound shop1989
1878 Puck (N.Y.) 4 Aug. 10/3 We don't run no bum actors, no hamfatters..dat Irving is jest a snide.
1881 Public Press (New Albany, Indiana) 11 Apr. The bum politician is abroad, the dread harbinger of the approaching spring elections.
1931 A. Powell Afternoon Men i. iii. 40 This is a bum party.
1977 B. Hayward Haywire i. 21 Father said that was a bum idea, he absolutely forbade it.
2016 Star News (Wilmington, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 7 Feb. 34 We didn't lose to a bum team and played bad... We lost to a good team, and just didn't play well enough.
b. Chiefly North American. Of a part of the body: not working properly; damaged, injured. Also of a mechanism or mechanical part: not fit for purpose; defective, faulty.
ΚΠ
1896 G. Ade in Washington (Iowa) Evening Jrnl. 23 June ‘What do you think of the bum eye?’... ‘Have you been in a fight?’
1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights vii. 190 A stranger that had seen better days and had a bum lung.
1917 T. Ford Let. 7 Nov. in Cheer-up Lett. (1918) 96 Filled lamp and changed bum valve for good valve on front right tire.
1947 Redbook Oct. 56/3 No man with a bum leg could kick a field goal from the 37-yard line with the wind against him.
1989 A. Maupin Sure of You 23 They kept quiet about the house's architectural significance (much in the way the realtor had about the bum plumbing).
2001 Jrnl. Asian Martial Arts 10 No. 1. 43 I..don't do it much now because of my bum knee.
2.
a. Chiefly North American. Esp. of money or a cheque: counterfeit; fraudulent; fake.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > [adjective]
counterfeitedc1385
counterfeitc1386
trothlessa1393
bastard1397
forged1484
apocryphate1486
adulterate?a1509
mockisha1513
sophisticate1531
adulterine1542
adulterous1547
mock1548
forbate1558
coined1582
firking1594
feigned1598
adulterated1610
apocryphal1612
spurious1615
usurpeda1616
impostured1619
mock-madea1625
suppository1641
affictitious1656
pasteboard1659
sophisticated1673
flam1678
Brummagem1679
sham1681
belieda1718
fictitious1739
Birmingham1785
pinchbeck1790
brummish1803
Brum1805
flash1812
spurious1830
bogus1839
imitative1839
dummy1846
doctored1853
postiche1854
pseudo1854
Brummagemish1855
snide1859
inauthentic1860
fake1879
bum1884
Brummie1886
tin1886
filled1887
duff1889
faked1890
shicec1890
margarine1891
dud1904
Potemkin village1904
mocked-up1919
phoney baloney1936
four-flushing1942
bodgie1956
moody1958
disauthentic1960
bodgied1988
bodgied-up1988
1884 Puck (N.Y.) 2 Apr. 69/1 ‘Bum’ checks are returned by the paying-teller on the first of August.
1898 Boston Sunday Globe 17 July (Mag.) 1/4 A bum dollar... Made out o' pig lead. You've been done.
1903 A. H. Lewis Boss xiv. 174 They don't amount to a deuce in a bum deck.
1916 Lit. Digest 11 Nov. 1286/2 We both were up against it, and he confided to me that he was quite a hand at putting over bum checks.
1919 Internat. Confectioner June 68/1 I've been known to pass bum nickels to satisfy my craving for this stuff.
1985 N. Pileggi Wiseguy viii. 99 We do the usual thing about getting rented cars and putting on bum plates.
2015 Columbus (Nebraska) Telegram (Nexis) 19 Aug. She is accused of writing bum checks totaling nearly $1,300.
b. gen. Incorrect, false, wrong. Cf. bum note n., bum steer n. at Compounds, bum rap n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > [adjective]
untruec1220
unrighta1393
amissa1398
unproperc1400
rudec1475
bada1522
haltinga1533
unjust1554
rustical1660
unaccurate1660
inaccurate1665
unprecise1742
unexact1758
imprecise1805
inexact1828
ungrammatical1843
bum1896
dot and carry one1900
seat-of-the-pants1935
1896 G. Ade Artie xvi. 152 The first night they took me out to milk they steered me up against the bum side o' the cow.
1934 J. M. Cain Postman always rings Twice ix. 82 I figured if I told a bum story first, and then turned around and told another story, it would sound like the second story was really true.
1978 M. Jahn Black Sheep Squadron ix. 39 Sometimes the instruments will give you a bum reading.
2015 Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent) (Nexis) 29 Oct. 3 We are always grateful when we get snippets of information, but usually it's bum information!
Compounds
bum deal n. a situation or outcome in which someone receives unfair or undeservedly harsh treatment; a raw deal, a rough deal (cf. deal n.2 4c(a)).
ΚΠ
1904 Weekly Gaz. (Colorado Springs) 25 Aug. 5/1 The moneyed men run the show until the politicians have an idea they are getting a bum deal.
1907 Northwestern Mag. Mar. 273 She got a hunch that fate had given her a bum deal.
1973 Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 24 Aug. 1423/5 Once the main courses arrived, it appeared that Scarlet once again had the bum deal.
2008 Independent 29 Nov. (Mag.) 105/1 Despite a general improvement in environmental awareness, insects still get a bum deal.
bum note n. (a) a wrong or badly played note in a piece of music; (b) (in figurative contexts) an action, comment, etc., that is disagreeable, inappropriate, or otherwise out of keeping with the circumstances; often in to strike a bum note.
ΚΠ
1896 Sun (Indianapolis) 19 June ‘You can sing if you try to.’ ‘I take no chances, Mame. If I'd ever spring one o' them bum notes..there'd be trouble.’
1899 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Evening Gaz. 12 Sept. 2/2 There was no discord, no bum note to disturb the harmony of the gathering.
1927 N.Y. Times 7 Jan. 18/7 He was the best musician..who, should occasion arise, would inquire with guttural sarcasm ‘who blew..[that] bum note?’
1973 Observer 18 Nov. 17/4 Post Office chairman Sir William Ryland struck the first bum note of the festive season with the news that your Christmas cards are likely to be even later arriving this year.
2011 P. Brannigan This is Call (2013) 164 They'd nail the basic [song] tracks.., leaving Vig to patch up the occasional bum note.
2013 A. Gibbons Raining Fire v. 64 ‘There could be money in it?’ He realised he had struck a bum note. ‘I mean Ethan could make a good living.’
bum steer n. a piece of false information or unhelpful guidance or advice.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > [noun] > misinformation
misinformation1587
bum steer1898
urban legend1931
myth-information1966
1898 Denver Evening Post 23 Sept. 8 They were going to get even with her for giving them the bum steer.
1939 ‘N. West’ Day of Locust ii. 14 What I'm telling you is strictly correct... Would I give you a bum steer?
1957 W. H. Whyte Organization Man 137 The muddy-headed way so many of us do [= talk] gives young men a bum steer.
2005 M. Roach Spook Introd. 13 For millions of people, religion will turn out to have been a bum steer as regards the hereafter.
bum trip n. an unpleasant or distressing (psychological) experience caused by taking a hallucinogenic drug (now somewhat dated); (in extended use) any unpleasant experience; cf. bummer n.7 2, bad trip n. at bad adj., n.2, and adv. Compounds 2.
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1966 Press-Courier (Oxnard, Calif.) 2 June 7/1 He has served time for narcotics violations. His evaluation of ‘one guy's bum trip’ is probably valid.
1973 L. Reed Caroline Says II (song) in Berlin lyric sheet Life is meant to be more than this and this is a bum trip.
1995 K. Cherry Sick & Full of Burning 98 Being alone in the city on a weekend could be a bum trip.
2014 Vogue 1 Sept. 802/1 Eating cannabis in excessive doses...can result in..a ‘bum trip’ or a ‘bummer’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† bumv.1
Obsolete.
intransitive. To drink, (probably) esp. in a greedy or guzzling manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (intransitive)]
drinkc1000
to wet (one's) whistle, weasand, mouth, beak, beardc1386
bumc1390
to wet (erron. whet) one's whistlec1405
tipple1648
to suck one's face1699
to moisten or wet one's clay1708
to water one's clay1751
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. l. 139 He abydeþ wel þe bet þat Bommeþ not to ofte.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. vii. l. 229 And [who] so bommede [A text c1390 Vernon Bummede] þer-of he bouht yt [sc. ale] þer-after.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
bumv.2
/bʌm/, U.S. /bəm/, Scottish English /bʌm/ 1. † a. intransitive. Of a bittern: to make its characteristic booming call; to boom (see boom v.1 1a). Obsolete.† c. transitive. Scottish and English regional (northern). To spin (a top) or throw (a stone) hard enough to cause it to hum loudly as it moves. Obsolete. N.E.D. (1888) also records the sense ‘to pelt with missiles, as “to bum one with stones”’; cf. buzz v.1 11.
ΚΠ
c1430 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1872) l. 972 As a bitore bumbith [c1405 Hengwrt bombleth] in þe myre.
b. intransitive. To hum or buzz loudly, like a bee, an object moving rapidly through the air, or a crowd of people talking. Chiefly Scottish after Middle English.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > continuous or protracted sound > [verb (intransitive)] > monotonous sound > hum
humc1420
boomc1440
sum?1440
bum1499
humble1617
spin1851
zoon1880
reel1899
1499 Promptorium Parvulorum (Pynson) sig. ci/2 Bummyn or bumbyn [1440 Harl. 221 bombon] as been, bombiso.
c1586 J. Stewart Poems (1913) 137 The bussie bies..Rycht blythlie buming on the flurist crops.
1633 Court Bk. Bishopric of Orkney (National Archives Scotl.: SC10/1/5) 87 in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) A great monstrous cloack [= beetle] cam fleeing and buming about ȝow.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. ix. 191 The Wasp and Hornet Bumbeth.
1722 W. Hamilton Life of Sir William Wallace x. ii. 253 English Men bum there [i.e. in Stirling] as thick as Bees.
1786 R. Burns Poems 213 Let the busy, grumbling hive Bum owre their treasure.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Northern Farmer: Old Style v, in Enoch Arden, etc. 130 I..'eerd un a bummin' awaäy loike a buzzard-clock.
1908 W. Findlay in Ballads & Poems (Glasgow Ballad Club) 3rd Ser. 182 Wi' the blithe babel crowd bummin' roun't just like bees.
1935 in Sc. National Dict. at Bum v.1 The stanes cam bummin' past ma heid.
?2002 I. W. D. Forde Hale ir Sindries ii. vii. 172 Frae the sie cam a hyne bummin lik ane angirt fozie-bie.
2016 J. D. McClure in Lallans 89 118 I myn weill..getting waukent up wi the soun o sireins houin an helicopters bummin.
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1888 N.E.D. Bum, to throw or hurl a missile with vibrating or booming effect, as ‘to bum stones at anything’.
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words at Bum Hadaway bum yor top.
1898 J. Foster in Eng. Dial. Dict. I. at Bum v.2 [Ayrshire] Let me bum your peery.
ΚΠ
?a1669 R. Sempill Life & Death Piper of Kilbarchan (?1698) (single sheet) His pipe play'd trimly to the Drum: Like Bikes of Bees he gart it bum.
1773 R. Fergusson Poems 115 Sae sweetly as it [sc. a bagpipe] wont to bum.
1786 R. Burns Poems 57 She's heard you bumman Wi' eerie drone.
1808 J. Mayne Siller Gun (new ed.) 79 Louder the big bass-fiddle bums.
1846 A. Laing Wayside Flowers 111 I think I hear the fiddles bummin'.
1901 N. Munro Doom Castle xxxvii Ye can be bummin' awa' wi' your chanter.
3. Scottish and Irish English (northern).
a. intransitive. To boast, brag. Frequently with about.In Ulster English frequently in bum and blow (usually in the progressive, bumming and blowing).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > boast [verb (intransitive)]
yelpc888
kebc1315
glorify1340
to make avauntc1340
boast1377
brag1377
to shake boastc1380
glorya1382
to make (one's) boastc1385
crackc1470
avaunt1471
glaster1513
voust1513
to make (one's or a) vauntc1515
jet?1521
vaunt?1521
crowa1529
rail1530
devauntc1540
brave1549
vaunt1611
thrasonize1619
vapour1629
ostentate1670
goster1673
flourish1674
rodomontade1681
taper1683
gasconade1717
stump1721
rift1794
mang1819
snigger1823
gab1825
cackle1847
to talk horse1855
skite1857
to blow (also U.S. toot) one's own horn1859
to shoot off one's mouth1864
spreadeagle1866
swank1874
bum1877
to sound off1918
woof1934
to shoot a line1941
to honk off1952
to mouth off1958
blow-
1877 Wilson's Hist. Tales Borders (new ed.) II. 164/1 Jenny Cuthbertson may bum, her gettin at the rate o' sevenpence ha'penny a-week, for caunles alane.
a1908 H. C. Hart MS Coll. Ulster Words in M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal (1953) 40/1 He's bummin' and' blowin'.
1965 E. M. Patterson & D. E. Rutherford Elem. Abstr. Algebra v. 49 Dave had been bummin' away as usual about how many blokes he had chibbed.
1985 L. Lochhead tr. Molière Tartuffe 35 Pair Wee Marianne! Nothin' worth bummin' Aboot in the looks depertment as faur as Ah cin see!
2006 I. S. Wood Crimes of Loyalty v. 111 [Citing unnamed member of the UDA] I had to listen to him bumming and blowing about it but it wasn't true.
b. transitive. With clause as object: to boast or brag (that something is the case).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > utter boastfully [verb (transitive)] > boast
beoteOE
bum1962
1962 B. McGhee Cut & Run iii. 33 You're no' gonny let they Soo' Side bastarts go aboot bummin' that they chased ony o' the Calton crowd, are ye?
1987 C. Reid Joyriders 65 The great lads he's always bummin' he's so friendly with.
2011 A. B. Taylor Bellfield Runners 29 Hey, listen tae General Montgomery here, bummin' he wis fightin' fer us, we've seen mair fightin at the street coarner when the pubs shut oan a Setterday night.
4. transitive originally and chiefly Scottish and Irish English (northern). With up. To boast or brag about. Also: to lavish praise on, talk up.
ΚΠ
1908 ‘L. Doyle’ Ballygullion ii. 28 The father an' mother, too, was always bummin' up Pether's money.
1917 A. G. Empey Over Top xvi. 116 I don't like bumming up my own battery, but we had a record in the Division for direct hits.
1968 C. P. Taylor Happy Days are here Again in New Eng. Dramatists XII. 151 You're always bumming up Donovan to me!
1978 B. Ashley Kind of Wild Justice (2002) 197 He wasn't bumming him up; he meant it.
2009 K. Campbell After the Fire xiii Crispian here will play with him a bit, teasing out his self-importance, bumming up the fact that he, Coltrane, and only Coltrane was in charge.
Phrases
Chiefly Scottish. to bum one's chat (also load, loaf, chaff): to make a boastful and probably dubious claim, esp. in an attempt to impress someone; to boast.
ΚΠ
1919 J. H. V. Crofts Field Ambulance Sketches 87 When I have heard him ‘bumming his chat’ to Infantry men, I have felt ashamed of the very cross on my sleeve.
c1950 R. McLeish Gorbals Story iv, in Sc. People's Theatre (Assoc. Sc. Lit. Stud.) (2008) 53 Ye jist keep talkin—bumming your chat intae their ear.
1974 G. M. Fraser McAuslan in Rough 45 I'll use that on Pipe-Major Macdonald, the next time he starts bumming his chat.
1995 A. Warner Morvern Callar (1996) 27 The Paul one was bumming his loaf about a university in a city and I should visit and that.
2004 L. Marney No Wonder I take Drink xxvii. 268 He had caught me showing off, bumming my load.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† bumv.3
Obsolete.
1. transitive. To give a beating or thrashing to, especially as a punishment; to strike, thump. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific degree of force > strike with specific degree of force [verb (transitive)] > strike heavily
cloutc1330
bunch1362
sousec1520
blad1524
dauda1572
bum1581
bump1611
bash1833
twat1974
1581 J. Studley tr. Seneca Hippolytus ii, in T. Newton et al. tr. Seneca 10 Trag. f. 64v To scratch and cuffe, to boxe and bum.
1582 A. Munday Eng. Romayne Lyfe 63 Howe I receyued these churlishe woordes, I leaue to your iudgementes, but it suffyseth, I gaue hym my blessynge, and yf I coulde haue gotten hym foorth of Roome, I woulde haue bumd hym too.
1608 T. Middleton Familie of Love (new ed.) iv. sig. F3 v Sirra you would be bumd for your Roguery.
1657 L. Carlell Fool would be Favourit iv. 60 My Master, if he come, will soundly bum him.
2. transitive. Chiefly English regional (south-western). To strike, hit, bang; spec. to cause (something, esp. a part of the body) to strike something else unexpectedly and sharply.
ΚΠ
1881 Royal Cornwall Gaz. 5 Aug. 7/1 He asked her how she got that [bruise], and she said, ‘My daughter Elizabeth did that by throwing me down, and “bumming” my head on the floor.’
1894 W. Raymond Love & Quiet Life iv. 37 I wish to goodness he would bom the bell.
1897 E. Phillpotts Lying Prophets ii. viii. 211 He blazed an' roared, an' comed over an' bummed my head 'pon the ear-hole.
1898 J. Foster in Eng. Dial. Dict. I. at Bum v.3 [Ayrshire] He bummed me against the wall.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
bumv.4
/bʌm/, U.S. /bəm/ a. transitive. To give a rounded, protruding appearance to. Obsolete.In quot. 1614 with reference to women who pad their garments to accentuate the shapeliness of their hips and bottom.
ΚΠ
1588 W. Averell Meruailous Combat of Contrarieties sig. B1v Your Buttons as strange for smalnes, as they were monstrous before for greatnes, this yeere bumbd like a Barrell, the next shottend like a Herring.
1614 W. Camden Remaines (rev. ed.) 235 Women bummed themselues with foxe tailes vnder their garments.
b. intransitive. With out. To project, protrude, stick out. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1633 Match at Mid-night i. sig. B2 What have you bumming out there goodman fyle?
c. intransitive. English regional (Lincolnshire). To swell up. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1889 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (ed. 2) at Bum It bumm'd up as big as a egg.
2. transitive. slang. To have anal sex with (a person). Usually with the active partner as the subject of the verb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > anal sex > [verb (transitive)]
bugger1560
sodomize1602
sod1868
bum-fuck1899
cornhole1920
ass-fuck1941
ream1942
rass1952
bum1970
butt-fuck1970
1970 A. Sillitoe Start in Life v. 321 If he pansies after a young man he's buggering his son... If he gets off with an older man he's being bummed by his father.
1999 A. Wheatle Brixton Rock 33 One kid I got to know was sent away to a mental home 'cos they reckoned his temper was too bad. We used to say some housefather was bumming him.
2000 R. J. Evans Entertainment vi. 80 I bet you two bum each other!
2010 N. Shukla Coconut Unlimited iv. 83 He had been to a Young Offenders Institute for getting his teacher in a headlock and threatening to bum him unless he got a B for a test.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† bumv.5
Obsolete.
intransitive. To operate a bumboat (see bumboat n.); to work as a bumboat woman.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > seafaring life > practice the calling of a sailor [verb (intransitive)] > in specific type of craft
bum1834
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple III. xix. 259 To see his wife go a bumming.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple III. xxiii. 301 He's dead, and I'm bumming.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018).
bumv.6
/bʌm/, U.S. /bəm/ colloquial (originally U.S. slang).
1.
a. intransitive. To pass one's time idly; to hang around doing nothing productive; to loaf. Later also: to travel around with no particular plan or purpose. Now usually with around.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [verb (intransitive)] > with no fixed aim or wander
wharvec890
woreOE
wandera1000
rengec1230
wagc1325
roamc1330
errc1374
raikc1390
ravec1390
rumblec1400
rollc1405
railc1425
roit1440
waverc1440
rangea1450
rove1481
to-waver1487
vaguea1525
evague1533
rangle1567
to go a-strayinga1586
vagary1598
divagate1599
obambulate1614
vagitate1614
ramble1615
divage1623
pererrate1623
squander1630
peramble1632
rink1710
ratch1801
browse1803
vagrate1807
bum1857
piroot1858
scamander1864
truck1864
bat1867
vagrant1886
float1901
vagulate1918
pissant1945
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > be slothful or lazy [verb (intransitive)] > idle or loaf
luskc1330
lubber1530
to play the truant, -s1560
lazea1592
lazy1612
meecha1625
lounge1671
saunter1672
sloungea1682
slive1707
soss1711
lolpoop1722
muzz1758
shack1787
hulkc1793
creolize1802
maroon1808
shackle1809
sidle1828
slinge1834
sossle1837
loaf1838
mike1838
to sit around1844
hawm1847
wanton1847
sozzle1848
mooch1851
slosh1854
bum1857
flane1876
slummock1877
dead-beat1881
to lop about1881
scow1901
scowbank1901
stall1916
doss1937
plotz1941
lig1960
loon1969
1857 [see bumming n.2 1a].
1863 Boston Herald 2 Aug. They are just fit to..read the News and Express, bum round rum-shops,..rob and sack houses, and other such pleasantries.
1876 Wheatland (Calif.) Free Press 4 Mar. 2/2 The Professor is readier..to ‘flunk’ the student, who spent his time ‘bumming’ the night before.
1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous 72 You ought to hev more sense than to bum araound on deck this weather.
1904 W. N. Harben Georgians 218 The fust night I got to bed late, after bummin' round with a feller that I met on the train.
1942 P. H. Abrahams Dark Test. i. xiv. 75 Dinnie was the fellow with whom I went bumming in Vrededorp when I was a kid.
1962 D. Lessing Golden Notebk. i. 25 I've been bumming around for a year, not earning, and I'm broke.
2002 Times 25 July 29/4 The couple then bummed around the French and Italian coasts.
b. intransitive. U.S. To live as a tramp or vagrant; to be ‘on the bum’ (see bum n.6 Phrases 2a). Also transitive with it.
ΚΠ
1865 W. Hilleary Jrnl. 22 Dec. in Webfoot Volunteer (1965) 143 As I had no money to pay my way with I concluded not to bum and staid at home.
1890 L. C. D'Oyle Notches Rough Edge Life 168 Qualifications which eminently fitted a man to ‘bum it’ on such a community.
1900 A. B. Edler in A. Prentiss Hist. Utah Volunteers xi. 115 I've ‘bummed’ all over the country.
1922 F. S. Fitzgerald Tales of Jazz Age 24 Reckin I been bummin' too long.
2005 Florida Times-Union (Nexis) 6 Feb. b1 ‘I've been bumming it for a while,’ said Zeiher, a 30-year-old homeless man who spends nights walking downtown and sleeps on benches by day.
2.
a. transitive. To acquire by begging or scrounging; to beg for; to cadge, sponge.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > mendicancy > beg [verb (transitive)]
beg?c1225
thigc1300
emendicate1611
mang1811
bum1863
schnorr1892
panhandle1894
yegg1916
ding1935
mump-
1863 Unionville (Nevada) Humboldt Reg. 4 July 2/1 He offered to pay, and didn't undertake to bum a puff out.
1892 M. Twain Amer. Claimant (1923) xv. 135 He can't bum a living at home.
1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary ii. 17 I have been walking and bumming rides ever since.
1941 L. A. G. Strong Bay 279 An odd sort of bloke..bummed a light and a fill of tobacco off me.
2000 P. Moore Full Montezuma (2001) xii. 201 When she ignored me and bummed a cigarette off the barman my heart sank.
b. intransitive. To beg or scrounge; to cadge. Often with off, from,on.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > mendicancy > beg or be beggar [verb (intransitive)]
thigc1300
begc1384
crave1393
to go a-begged1393
prowl1530
to go (or have been) a begging1535
maund?1536
to bear the wallet1546
cant1567
prog1579
to turn to bag and wallet1582
skelder1602
maunder1611
strike1618
emendicate1623
mendicate1623
to go a-gooding1646
mump1685
shool1736
cadge1819
to stand pad1841
stag1860
bum1870
schnorr1875
panhandle1894
pling1915
stem1924
nickel-and-dime1942
1870 Mountain Democrat (Placerville, Ca.) 26 Mar. Journeymen soul savers, who have been bumming off the Freedman's Bureau for the past 9 years.
1885 W. J. Flagg Wall St. & Woods xiv. 165 Aint all the world gone ‘bumming’ since the war..?
1918 Stars & Stripes 5 Apr. 7/3 He never took a girl to a dance... He just..bummed on us for dances.
1979 W. Kennedy Ironweed i. 8 You got no money or nobody to bum from.
2013 K. Reid Sweet 16 to Life xi. 71 It was only once or twice I bummed off her.
c. transitive. To beg (a person) for something; to cadge from. Frequently with for.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > mendicancy > beg [verb (transitive)] > beg a person for something
bum1893
ding1935
ponce1938
1893 Daily Rev. (Decatur, Illinois) 3 Jan. Russell followed him and Grigsby..bumming them for a drink.
1923 H. L. Foster Beachcomber in Orient i. 2 Then he bummed me for the price of a ‘square meal’.
1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 191 He had bummed every guy up in Portland, And they all came across with the goods.
2013 A. R. Avila My Life 340 The teenager waiting there to let us in bummed me for a cigarette.
3. U.S.
a. transitive. to bum one's way: to make one's way by hitch-hiking or riding a train or other form of public transport without paying a fare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > riding in a vehicle > ride a vehicle [verb (transitive)] > thumb (a lift) > make one's way by lifts
to bum one's way1877
to hitch a lift1931
1877 Daily Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 1 June A couple of bummers who expected to bum their way through Colorado.
1883 Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig & Courier 1 Oct. A fellow..tried to bum his way on the steamer.
1886 Semi-Weekly Age (Coshocton, Ohio) 23 Aug. 4/3 Bum his way to Killbuck on the construction train.
1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby vii. 154 He was probably bumming his way home.
2011 Buffalo News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 26 Sept. b1 Our first ride took us to Reno..Eventually we bummed our way to Salt Lake City.
b. transitive. To travel on (a train) without paying a fare; to use (the rail network) as a means of travelling around without paying. Now chiefly historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > [verb (transitive)] > travel on without a ticket
bum1896
1896 Appletons' Pop. Sci. Monthly Dec. 254 Several of the ‘lads’ had been ‘pulled’ at the Rapids for ‘bumming the freights’.
1917 ‘A-No. 1’ From Coast to Coast with Jack London xiii. 99 Of all unpleasantness a railroader most hates to be reminded that a hobo had successfully bummed his train.
1939 A. Young Art Young, his Life & Times 344 He had bummed the rails and taken his chances with the migratory workers in many of the hot spots across the country.
2003 L. Setterdahl Swedes in Moline, Illinois: 1847–2002 143/1 He then ‘bummed trains’ to find temporary jobs, mostly with dam building on the Mississippi River.
c. intransitive. To travel to a place by hitch-hiking or riding a train or other form of public transport without paying a fare.
ΚΠ
1905 Amer. Illustr. Mag. Oct. 614/1 He bummed through to El Paso on schedule time.
1931 Pagany Jan. 64 Half-persuaded I'd try bumming to Europe with you though.
1967 C. Wilcox Black Door xiii. 169 We'd just been kicked out of a town and were bumming to another one.
2006 E. Wald Riding with Strangers 91 They talked about bumming to ‘Frisco’ and ‘Chi’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
bumv.7
/bʌm/, U.S. /bəm/ Originally U.S.
1. intransitive. slang. To have an unpleasant or distressing (psychological) experience while intoxicated with a hallucinogenic drug. Also with out.Usually in the progressive, e.g. in bumming on acid.
ΚΠ
1969 Corpus Christi (Texas) Times 16 Oct. 8/1 Mullen told them he was ‘bumming out’ and was on ‘a bad trip’.
1971 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 9 Oct. 15/1 I bummed on acid, a bad trip... When I bummed I saw vampires.
1986 U. Zero Out of Step & out of Detroit iii. 29 Dickie came over one afternoon panic-stricken, bumming on acid.
2009 J. Delingpole Welcome to Obamaland i. 14 Woodstock was a toilet.., you couldn't get anywhere near close enough to see or hear the acts, and anyway everyone was bumming out on bad acid.
2. colloquial (chiefly North American).
a. transitive. To make (a person) feel annoyed, upset, or disappointed; to depress, sadden; to irritate. Usually with out. Cf. bummer n.7 1, bummed adj.2 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > irritation > irritate [verb (transitive)]
gremec893
grillc897
teenOE
mispay?c1225
agrillec1275
oftenec1275
tarya1300
tarc1300
atenec1320
enchafec1374
to-tarc1384
stingc1386
chafe?a1400
pokec1400
irec1420
ertc1440
rehete1447
nettlec1450
bog1546
tickle1548
touch1581
urge1593
aggravate1598
irritate1598
dishumour1600
to wind up1602
to pick at ——1603
outhumour1607
vex1625
bloody1633
efferate1653
rankle1659
spleen1689
splenetize1700
rile1724
roil1742
to put out1796
to touch (also get, catch, etc.) (a person) on the raw1823
roughen1837
acerbate1845
to stroke against the hair, the wrong way (of the hair)1846
nag1849
to rub (a person, etc.) up the wrong way1859
frump1862
rattle1865
to set up any one's bristles1873
urticate1873
needle1874
draw1876
to rough up1877
to stick pins into1879
to get on ——1880
to make (someone) tiredc1883
razoo1890
to get under a person's skin1896
to get a person's goat1905
to be on at1907
to get a person's nanny1909
cag1919
to get a person's nanny-goat1928
cagmag1932
peeve1934
tick-off1934
to get on a person's tits1945
to piss off1946
bug1947
to get up a person's nose1951
tee1955
bum1970
tick1975
1970 Chicago Daily Defender 3 Aug. 19/2 The unusual number of hostile types around and the constant racket of the circling helicopters was bumming us out.
1984 TriQuarterly Spring 311 It's the thing about being captain that bums him most.
2007 M. Carter Accidentally Engaged xi. 83 Today's horoscope is not fit to print. (Really. It would have seriously bummed you out.)
b. intransitive. To feel or become depressed, discouraged, or annoyed. Also with out.
ΚΠ
1975 Boston Globe 19 June 56/4 The full psychological impact of her injury caught up with her... ‘When we moved to Florida I really bummed out... It was just a delayed thing.’
1984 Washington Post 3 Aug. e4/3 I'm not bumming about it. I'm very happy to take home a silver.
1998 Comics Jrnl. Mar. 84/3 So we bum out over the low initial orders, but it's a point where we're like, ‘Yes, we'll lose money but, we still love Madman and it will catch on.’
2013 J. A. Fredrick King of Good Intentions 100 You aren't still bumming about Sarah hating you, are you?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† bumprep.
Obsolete.
By my. Used in contracted forms of oaths and asseverations, as bum fay (cf. by my fay at fay n.1 6b), bum troth (cf. by my troth at troth n. and adv. Phrases 2).
ΚΠ
1560 T. Churchyard Contention betwyxte Churchyeard & Camell sig. E.ii/2 Tis a vengeance beast, and bygge to beare you all, And if you zit not vast, bum fay, man to vall.
a1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) sig. Fij Bum troth, but few such roysters come to my yeares.
1578 G. Whetstone Promos & Cassandra: 1st Pt. iv. vii. sig. Fi Nay, bum Ladie, I will not by Saint Anne.
1602 Contention Liberalitie & Prodigalitie iv. iii. sig. E2 Come on, surra, chill make you vast, bum vay.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018).
† bumint.1n.2
Obsolete.
A. int.1
Used by a young child to ask for a drink. Cf. bum v.1
ΚΠ
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Bva, the word of yonge children whan they aske for drynke, with vs they vse to saye Bumme.
B. n.2
Drink.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > [noun]
drencha800
drunka800
drinkc888
wetec897
liquor1340
beveragec1400
bever?1453
pitcher-meat1551
bum1570
pot1583
nin1611
sorbition1623
potablesa1625
potion1634
refreshment1639
potulent1656
sorbicle1657
pote1694
drinkable1708
potation1742
rinfresco1745
sup1782
bouvragea1815
potatory1834
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Piii v/2 Bum, drinke, potus.
1571 T. Whythorne Triplex of Songes f. 14 That well tipled are with boused bum.
1661 Tom Tyler & his Wife 4 Here is good bum, I dare boldly say.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
<
n.1int.2a1387
n.31570
n.41790
n.51845
n.61863adj.1878v.1c1390v.2c1430v.31581v.41588v.51834v.61857v.71969prep.1560int.1n.21538