A Negro pastor whirled me round to the hub of bumming Ham in his brand-new car.
depressed; despairing
"buttocks," late 14c., "probably onomatopœic, to be compared with other words of similar sound and with the general sense of 'protuberance, swelling.' " [OED]
"dissolute loafer, tramp," 1864, American English, from bummer "loafer, idle person" (1855), probably from German slang bummler "loafer," from bummeln "go slowly, waste time." Bum first appears in a German-American context, and bummer was popular in the slang of the North's army in the American Civil War (as many as 216,000 German immigrants in the ranks). Bum's rush "forcible ejection" first recorded 1910.
"of poor quality," 1859, American English, from bum (n.). Bum steer in figurative sense of "bad advice" attested from 1901.
adjective
Depressed; despairing: bumming and need to talk
adjective
noun
verb
Related Terms
beach bum, crumb-bun, skid row bum, stewbum, stumblebum
[probably fr German Bummler, ''loafer'']
noun
The buttocks or anus; ass •More common in British usage: after getting a shot of something in her bum
[late 1300s+; fr Middle English ''anus'']