bum1 nounbum2 verbbum3 adjective
bumbum1 /bʌm/ ●○○ noun [countable] informal 
WORD ORIGINbum1
Origin:
1800-1900 Probably from bummer ‘bum’ (19-20 centuries), perhaps from German bummler ‘lazy person’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- A couple of bums were passing a bottle in a doorway.
- She's always complaining about her husband, but she won't throw the bum out.
- I thought the members had been waiting, just waiting, for the chance to throw the bums out.
- Parke Puterbaugh and Alan Bisbort are beach bums and proud of it.
- Quigley peered down at its bum.
- The same bums in the same pound seats.
- Throw out those bums, and get some people willing to get results.
- You envision a California beach bum.
Longman Language Activatorpeople who have no home to live in
· We distribute food and blankets to the homeless on the streets of London.· There aren't enough places in short-stay hostels, so the homeless are reduced to sleeping in cardboard boxes.
American someone who has no home or regular work: · Empty houses attract drug users and transients.· Farther along the street was a transient who was carrying his belongings in a plastic bag.
American informal a person, usually a man, who has no home or regular job and asks people for money on the streets: · A couple of bums were passing a bottle in a doorway.
informal a woman with no home or job who carries all her possessions around with her in a bag: · A bag lady with a shopping cart was picking through the garbage for aluminum cans.
someone, especially a man, who has no home or job , and who often asks people for money to live: · An old tramp was sleeping under Waterloo Bridge, his coat wrapped tight to keep out the cold.
especially written someone who has no home or regular work, and goes from place to place - used especially in legal or official contexts: · Our charity provides shelter, meals, and clothing for vagrants.· The number of vagrants is increasing because of the lack of affordable accommodation for rent in the capital.
the number of people who are at an event the number of people who attend an event such as a game, a concert, or an important meeting: · The game had an attendance of over 50,000 people.attendance at: · Attendance at the national championships is already higher than expected.good/high attendance: · We had pretty good attendance despite the bad weather.poor/low attendance: · Considering the seriousness of the matter to be debated there was an unusually low attendance at the meeting.
the number of people who have decided to go to or take part in an event: turnout for: · We had a much better turnout for the company picnic this year than last.low/light/small turnout: · Turnout for the game was lighter than expected.high/heavy/large turnout: · There was an unusually high turnout in the election, nearly twice the number predicted.
the number of people at an event, concert, play etc - use this especially when you think the people who organized the event are only interested in getting a lot of people there and do not really care about whether the event is good or not: · Inviting a soap star or two to your opening night is always a good way of getting bums on seats.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Cleveland always gets a bum rap in the press.
Cleveland always gets a bum rap in the press. British English informal (=used for saying that something or someone can attract a large audience)· He is an actor who will put bums on seats.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· Parke Puterbaugh and Alan Bisbort are beach bums and proud of it.· You envision a California beach bum.
VERB· Oh yes, they're very good at theory but no bloody good at getting off their bums and looking for themselves!· But I got the bum who led them.· With a face like mine I never get my bum pinched or felt!· So far the film, which is bound to get a few bums on seats for that scene alone, is untitled.· He's got a great bum.· Chocolat has been nominated for five Oscars, so it's bound to get a lot of bums on seats.
· When you can put bums on seats, then you can come and tell me what flights you want to travel on.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► give somebody the bum's rushPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1British English the part of your body that you sit on SYN bottom2American English someone, especially a man, who has no home or job, and who asks people for money3beach/ski etc bum someone who spends all their time on the beach, skiing etc without having a job4someone who is very lazy5get/put bums on seats British English informal to make a large number of people go to see a film, play, sports match etc: - Parke Puterbaugh and Alan Bisbort are beach bums and proud of it.
- You envision a California beach bum.
- When you can put bums on seats, then you can come and tell me what flights you want to travel on.
- She said social programs of the 1960s have gotten a bad rap in the 1990s.
- They got me on a bum rap.
- Yalta's bad name was in some ways a bum rap.
She’s the kind of star who will put bums on seats.6give somebody the bum's rush informal to make someone leave a place, especially a public place, quicklybum1 nounbum2 verbbum3 adjective
bumbum2 verb (past tense and past participle bummed, present participle bumming) [transitive] British English informal VERB TABLE
bum
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | bum |
| he, she, it | bums | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | bummed |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have bummed |
| he, she, it | has bummed | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had bummed |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will bum |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have bummed |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am bumming |
| he, she, it | is bumming | |
| you, we, they | are bumming | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was bumming |
| you, we, they | were bumming | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been bumming |
| he, she, it | has been bumming | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been bumming |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be bumming |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been bumming |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- He's always bumming drinks off people and it really gets on my nerves.
- I bummed a ride from Sue.
- I think Steve managed to bum a lift home.
- BTheodora sees Johnny up the street, bums a little change, then heads to a nearby liquor store.
- For the last 18 months of his life, he bummed money, cigarettes and sympathy from his friends.
- He spent a whole year bumming from friends, crashing in strange places, selling weed with pals to make his bread.
- In a cabin soaked in pure oxygen at greater than atmospheric pressure for five hours, almost anything bums.
- Once empty the external tank is jettisoned and will bum up in the atmosphere.
- Please help me out before I shrink, fade or bum all my new does.
- Then he laughed, and Petey felt it was worse that Ted had laughed, because afterward he seemed bummed out.
Longman Language Activatorto ask for money or food because you do not have any
to ask someone for food, cigarettes etc especially because you do not have enough money or would prefer not to pay for them: scrounge something off/from: · Nigel scrounged a drink off us before we left.scrounge something: · We managed to scrounge some cigarettes because we had no money left.scrounge: · When I was a kid I never had enough money for the bus, so I had to scrounge.
British informal to ask someone for something such as food, cigarettes etc because you do not have enough money or would prefer not to pay for them: · Sonia is always cadging lifts home and she never offers any money for petrol.· The two boys moved around the bar, cadging free drinks and cigarettes.
informal to ask someone for something such as food or cigarettes, in a way that annoys or embarrasses people: · I think Steve managed to bum a lift home.bum something off somebody: · He's always bumming drinks off people and it really gets on my nerves.
American informal to ask someone for something such as food or cigarettes in a way that annoys or embarrasses people: mooch something/it/them off: · This old guy was trying to mooch a beer off Dave.mooch off somebody: · He never pays for anything - he'd even mooch off his own mother.
also panhandle American to ask people in the street for money or food because you do not have any: · Things got so bad that at one point she thought she'd have to go out and beg.· He just sits there on the street all day, but he doesn't panhandle.beg for: · Just a few years ago, Tanya was homeless and begging for money in front of the supermarket.beg from: · Sad-looking men of all ages beg from tourists at the corner of the square.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Cleveland always gets a bum rap in the press.
Cleveland always gets a bum rap in the press. British English informal (=used for saying that something or someone can attract a large audience)· He is an actor who will put bums on seats.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· I've spent years on the road with natro groups, mostly abroad, just bumming around.· Mine is bumming around Grand Forks.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
to ask someone for something such as money, food, or cigarettes SYN cadge: - She said social programs of the 1960s have gotten a bad rap in the 1990s.
- They got me on a bum rap.
- Yalta's bad name was in some ways a bum rap.
She bummed a little cash off me.bum around phrasal verb informal1 (also bum about) to spend time lazily doing nothing2bum around something to travel around, living very cheaply, without having any plans: He spent a year bumming around Australia.bum1 nounbum2 verbbum3 adjective
bumbum3 adjective [only before noun] informal EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- He gave me a lot of bum advice.
- I moved the bum leg then, limped toward the door, and I started to spin.
- It's going to be a bum deal all through for poor Cliffy.
- It really was bum shooting, Jack.
- The board also urged the courts to impose the maximum fines on bum landlords.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Jim got a bum deal (=unfair treatment).COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Cleveland always gets a bum rap in the press.
Jim got a bum deal (=unfair treatment). Cleveland always gets a bum rap in the press. British English informal (=used for saying that something or someone can attract a large audience)· He is an actor who will put bums on seats.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· They got me on a bum rap.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1bad and useless: - C Jeremy Newberry, with a bum ankle and knee, is still expected to start.
- She said social programs of the 1960s have gotten a bad rap in the 1990s.
- They got me on a bum rap.
- Yalta's bad name was in some ways a bum rap.
The orchestra was excellent. No one played a bum note. Jim got a bum deal (=unfair treatment).2a bum ankle/leg etc American English an injured ankle, leg etc