† bummern.1
Obsolete.
= bum-bailiff n. Cf. bum n.1 2.
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
1675 J. Crowne Countrey Wit iii. 40 I'le go get the Writ and Bailiffs..my Bummers shall have her in bed.
1890 A. J. Armstrong Ingleside Musings & Tales 218 The farm gaed to jap an' the bummers cam' in An' hoisted puir Tam to the causey.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
bummern.2
/ˈbʌmə/, U.S. /ˈbəmər/, Scottish English /ˈbʌmər/ Originally and chiefly Scottish.
1. Something which makes a noise likened to the buzzing or humming of bees and other insects.
a. A child's toy consisting of a thin piece of wood or metal tied to a string and made to revolve rapidly, giving rise to a humming sound when whirled round. Also occasionally: a similar device used in religious rites by Australian Aboriginal people; cf. bullroarer n. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > rattles or whirrers > [noun]
hurr1483
hurre-bone1483
rattle1519
rittle-rattle1567
clickets1611
bummer1821
bullroarer1848
thunderer1860
whizzer188.
tick-tack1884
whizzing-stick1890
whizzing-blade1905
1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 35/1 Bummers, or a thin piece of wood swung round by a cord.
1899 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (rev. ed.) xviii It mindit me o' the schule laddies an' their bummers.
1911 E. M. Clowes On Wallaby xi. 304 All the women of the tribe are warned away..by the ‘bullroarer’ or ‘bummer’.
a1970 T. Moody Mid-Northumbrian Dial. (2007) 88 The disc may be kept revolving back and forth indefinitely at so great a speed that it makes a musical humming sound—hence the name bummer.
b. Scottish. A factory siren.
ΚΠ
1929 Scots Mag. Feb. 321 Behind him the bummers in half a dozen factories in Aberbrothock were skirling the skailing hour.
1986 D. A. MacMurchie I remember Another Princes Street! 31 Those who were working were summoned to mill, factory, yard and workshop by bell, bummer, hooter and whistle.
2013 M. Pyott Nae Mammie’s Kisses xix. 187 Duke's factory ‘bummer’ had sounded the dinner break.
2. A bumblebee; (more generally) any insect which makes a buzzing or humming sound. Cf. bumbler n.2 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > member of family Bombidae (bumble-bee)
dora700
humble-beea1450
bumblebee1530
drumble bee1592
bumble1599
grumbledory1600
bumbee1605
bumbarda1614
dumbledore1787
foggie1819
bummer1822
bumbler1825
drumble drone1855
drumble-dore1881
1822 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae ii, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 486 Wasps are better than great fat stingless bummers.
1870 J. Nicholson Idylls o' Hame 33 Big blue bummers, wasps an' flees.
1922 G. P. Dunbar Whiff o' Doric 17 Wi' spiders, mochs, an' bummers, ay, an' a' kin-kine o' flees.
2003 S. Blackhall Winnlestrae 17 Nae bummer wad stang sic a deintie wee lass.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
bummern.3
/ˈbʌmə/, U.S. /ˈbəmər/ slang (originally U.S.). derogatory.
1. † c. U.S. A politician or public official who is idle or corrupt; spec. a hanger-on of a political party's officers. Cf. bummerism n. Obsolete.
a. Chiefly U.S. A vagrant or loafer who lives by begging or scrounging from others. Cf. bum n.6 3a.In early use chiefly associated with San Francisco.Becoming increasingly uncommon through the 20th cent.
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
1855 Weekly Oregonian (Portland, Oregon Territory) 27 Jan. 1/4 Come, clear out, you trunken loafer! Ve don't vant no bummers here!
1859 Calif. Police Gaz. 27 Mar. 2/4 The number of bummers is rapidly increasing. Some paper..talks of a bummers' rendezvous near the waterworks building.
1865 Atlantic Monthly Mar. 286 The brain..a lazy bummer, that lived at the stomach's expense.
1887 M. Roberts Western Avernus vi. 71 Some of the ‘boys’ said it was a regular ‘hand out’, and that we looked like a crowd of old ‘bummers’.
1914 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 27 Mar. 8/3 A bummer is a bummer even if he wears clothes of solid gold!
1960 J. Jordan & M. M. Marberry Fool's Gold vii. 73 [He] hired a drunken old bummer, sobered him up, supplied him with a clean outfit and sent him out ‘missionarying’.
b. U.S. In the American Civil War (1861–5): a soldier who is a deserter, straggler, or malingerer; spec. a Union soldier who deserted the ranks temporarily to forage illicitly from Confederate farms and settlements. Now historical.In the specific sense with reference to the campaigns of General William T. Sherman (1920–91) in Georgia and the Carolinas.
ΚΠ
1861 Maryland Hist. Mag. 5 324 We have a fair sprinkling of bummers, but instead of demoralizing their betters by their presence, they are only laughed at.
1865 G. W. Nichols Story of Great March xxiv. 240 If it be asked what a bummer is, the reply is easy. He is a raider on his own account—a man who temporarily deserts his place in the ranks..and starts out upon an independent foraging expedition.
1884 F. Y. Hedley Marching through Georgia (1887) xxviii. 270 Where the premises were abandoned, the Bummer made a clean sweep, appropriating everything he wanted, and a great many things he did not want.
1927 P. A. Rollins Jinglebob 45 Most of them were graduates of penitentiaries, city slums, and the ‘bummer’ contingents of the armies in the Civil War.
2001 Sun Jrnl. (New Bern, N. Carolina) 1 Jan. 6 aa/3 To maintain order in Goldsboro, the first ‘bummers’ from Sherman's army who made trouble were promptly tossed into jail.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > politician > [noun] > political hanger-on
water carrier1835
bummer1872
heeler1875
ward-heeler1890
lackey1939
fart-catcher1971
1872 Chicago Tribune 24 Dec. 2/3 Without general acquaintance here [sc. in Washington] and utterly unknown as a Congressional bummer.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lxiv. 89 Certain salaries and fees in local offices are notoriously kept high, so that the incumbent may freely ‘bleed’ for party use, or, what is the same thing, for the use of party ‘bummers’.
1898 Forum Dec. 414 Ward heelers and slum ‘bummers’ were conspicuous factors in the Presidential campaigns of 1876 and 1880. Money was paid out with free hands by the managers of political parties.
2. A worthless, lazy, or despicable person.
ΘΚΠ
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
1857 Daily Evening Bull. (San Francisco) 24 Dec. 1/2 Mr. Hearsay, prisoner. Spectators, outsiders, reporters, and other bummers generally.
1860 D. R. Hundley Social Relations in Southern States vii. 268 Perished thus the wretched Bobtail, By imbibing strychnine whisky, Sold by some confounded bummer, At a bit a glass, or cheaper.
1881 B. Nye Bill Nye & Boomerang 15 One day Damon got too much budge and told the venerable and colossal old royal bummer of Syracuse what he thought of him.
1931 ‘F. O'Connor’ Guests of Nation 43 He was almost in good humour again, and talked a little,..sourly abusing the ‘bummers’ who had soaked him the evening before.
1969 N. Cohn Pop from Beginning xiii. 131 The Beatles promptly found themselves besieged by massed no-talents and maniacs and charlatans, bummers of all descriptions.
2014 DNA (Nexis) 11 Nov. This lazy bummer who hardly wants to work in the house was reprimanded for her work in the kitchen.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [adjective] > idling or loafing > befitting an idler or loafer
bummerish1871
1871 C. King in Atlantic Monthly June 709/1 Indians..lying off with that peculiar, bummerish ease.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
bummern.4
/ˈbʌmə/, U.S. /ˈbəmər/ Forestry. Now historical.
A vehicle used for dragging logs, typically having a pair of wheels and a shaft enabling it to be pulled by horses, a tractor, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > platform on wheels > with small low wheels
bogiec1817
truck frame1850
dolly1901
bummer1905
skate1905
1905 Terms Forestry & Logging (Bull. U.S. Dept. Agric., Bureau Forestry, No. 61) 32 Bummer, a small truck with two low wheels and a long pole, used in skidding logs. Syn.: drag cart, skidder.
1946 W. A. Duerr et al. Timber-products Marketing E. Kentucky (Kentucky Agric. Exper. Station, Bull. No. 488) 18 Ground conditions rarely permit use of a tractor; and such labor-saving devices as the dray, bummer, skidding pan, and logging arch are never employed.
2008 Arkansas Hist. Q. 67 124 (caption) A ‘bummer’ ready to go to the railroad.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
bummern.5
/ˈbʌmə/, U.S. /ˈbəmər/ Often with of. A person who bums (bum v.6 2); one who scrounges, begs for, or cadges something, typically cigarettes or drinks.
ΚΠ
1948 R. L. Tobin Golden Opinions viii. 106 Malloy was a bore, a lush, a trial, and a bummer of drinks.
1956 Oracle (Monmouth College, Illinois) 19 May 2/3 The occasional bummer is not so serious. He nearly always has cigarettes but there are times when he runs out.
1977 Lompoc (Ca.) Rec. 10 June The principal of Los Berros, a notorious bummer of cigarettes, revealed himself by including a pack in the gift to his secret pal.
2001 B. Pointon Turn over Rain Barrel xix. 207 Blake was the champion cigarette bummer of the group. He never bought any, he just bummed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
bummern.6
/ˈbʌmə/, U.S. /ˈbəmər/ slang (frequently derogatory).
A homosexual man. Cf. bum v.4 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male
badlingeOE
nan1670
molly1708
Miss Molly1754
Miss Nancy1824
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
Mary Ann1868
pretty-boy1881
cocksucker1885
poofter1889
queer1894
fruit1895
fairy1896
homosexualist1898
puff1902
pussy1904
nance1910
quean1910
girl1912
faggot1913
mouser1914
queen1919
fag1921
gay boy1921
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
punk1933
queerie1933
gobbler1934
jocker1935
queenie1935
iron1936
freak1941
swish1941
flit1942
tonk1943
wonk1945
mother1947
fruitcake1952
Mary1953
twink1953
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
arse bandit1961
leather man1961
booty bandit1962
ginger beer1964
bummer1965
poofteroo1966
shirtlifter1966
battyman1967
dick-sucker1968
mo1968
a friend of Dorothy1972
shim1973
gaylord1976
twinkie1977
woofter1977
bender1986
knob jockey1989
batty boy1992
cake boy1992
1965 Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 22 Homosexual... Related terms:..bummer.
1997 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 5 Apr. 38 Like vultures, the others swooped, taunting at first, dancing about calling him ‘fag’ and ‘gay boy’ and ‘bummer’.
2006 Attitude Nov. 55/2 Roman gladiators, naked ancient Greek pankration wrestlers, sailors, pirates, all have a rich history of bummers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
bummern.7int.
/ˈbʌmə/, U.S. /ˈbəmər/ Originally U.S.
A. n.7
1. A disappointing, unpleasant, or unwanted situation or experience; a disappointment, a failure.Typically in predicative use, e.g. ‘it was a bummer’, ‘that's a real bummer’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > [noun] > one who or that which is unsuccessful > that which is a failure
fizzle1846
fiasco1855
frost1874
blue duck1889
wash-out1902
blowout1925
turkey1927
flopperoo1936
stiff1937
muck-up1942
bomb1954
fizzer1957
lead balloon1960
damp squib1963
bummer1967
downer1976
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > [noun] > unpleasantness > unpleasant experience
rencounter1589
rencontre1661
rub1733
dose1847
cold shower1875
murder1878
bummer1967
1967 H. S. Thompson Hell's Angels vii. 89 Man, it was a bummer.
1979 N. Mailer Executioner's Song (1980) i. xxi. 343 It was a bummer. Hitchhiking over to the nuthouse, the whole day got lost.
1986 D. A. Dye Platoon (1987) v. 67 I ain't no sooner off the chopper than I get a letter from my wife sayin' she wants a fucking divorce. What a bummer, man!
2008 Q May 118/1 My skin moulted and my hair turned grey. That was the real bummer.
2. An unpleasant or distressing (psychological) experience caused by taking a hallucinogenic drug (especially LSD). Cf. bad trip n. at bad adj., n.2, and adv. Compounds 2, bum trip n. at bum adj. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > effects of drugs > [noun] > effects of hallucinatory drugs > unpleasant
bad trip1966
bummer1968
1968 T. Leary Politics of Ecstasy viii. 166 The Western world has been on a bad trip, a 400-year bummer.
1970 R. Thorp & R. Blake Music of their Laughter 51/2 A tranquilizer can get you down from a bummer.
1976 H. Ferguson Confessions Long Distance Acid Head 10 Then, the next trip was a bad one, a ‘bummer’.
2014 Z. Cormier Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll 132 The world's ‘first trip’ was a bummer: Hoffman spent the next two days sick and miserable.
B. int.
Expressing disappointment or annoyance, or (more commonly) sympathy for another's ill fortune.
ΚΠ
1973 N.Y. Times 8 Mar. 39/2 Bummer—Unpleasant experience, especially with drugs. It is also an exclamation of disgust or sympathy for another's bad experience.
1981 Princeton Alumni Weekly 23 Feb. 58/1 They campaigned to keep Mr. Garwood in the State Supreme Court but he was thrown out of the saddle by four-tenths of one percent. Bummer.
1997 T3 Jan. 105/2 You can get a brilliant TV for around £600 but have to pay around £4,000 for an LCD projector. Bummer!
2008 P. Hensher Northern Clemency 339 ‘He just went,’ the Australian said. ‘Bummer,’ the girl said. ‘I bet he left you with a phone bill and half a month's rent, too.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.11675
n.21821n.31855
n.41905n.51948n.61965n.7int.1967- lesser george
- lesser habit
- lesser hemlock
- lesser hippocampus
- lesser light
- lesser lion
- lesser litany
- lesser marshwort
- lesser mood
- lesser moonwort
- lesser multangular
- lesser omentum
- lesser or small calorie
- lesser orang-utan
- lesser orangutan
- lesser orpine
- lesser osage
- lesser padloper
- lesser panda
- lesser periwinkle
- lesser pettichaps
- lesser prairie chicken
- lesser redpoll
- lesser reed-sparrow
- lesser reedmace