bum

¹

[buhm]

noun

1. a person who avoids work and sponges on others; loafer; idler.

2. a tramp, hobo, or derelict.

   Synonyms: vagrant, vagabond

3. Informal.,  an enthusiast of a specific sport or recreational activity, especially one who gives it priority over work, family life, etc..

   a ski bum; a tennis bum.

4. Informal.,  an incompetent person.

5. a drunken orgy; debauch.

verb (used with object)

bummed, bumming 

1. Informal.,  to borrow without expectation of returning; get for nothing; cadge.

   He's always bumming cigarettes from me.

2. Slang.,  to ruin or spoil.

   The weather bummed our whole weekend.

verb (used without object)

bummed, bumming 

1. to sponge on others for a living; lead an idle or dissolute life.

2. to live as a hobo.

adjective

bummer, bummest 

1. Slang.,  of poor, wretched, or miserable quality; unsatisfactory.

   I figured $300 was a bum deal for a minor repair, but I paid it anyway.

2. Slang.,  fraudulent or fake.

   He was accused of issuing a bum check for $2920.

3. Slang.,  disappointing; unpleasant.

4. Slang.,  erroneous or ill-advised; misleading.

   I think the gauge is giving me a bum readout.

5. Slang.,  physically disabled, impaired, or injured.

   a bum leg.

verb phrase

1. bum around,  to travel, wander, or spend one's time aimlessly.

   We bummed around for a couple of hours after work.

bum

²

[buhm]

noun

Chiefly British Slang.

1. the buttocks; rump.

bum

¹

/ bʌm /

noun

1. a disreputable loafer or idler

2. a tramp; hobo

3. an irresponsible, unpleasant, or mean person

4. a person who spends a great deal of time on a specified sport

   baseball bum

5. 1. living as a loafer or vagrant

   2. out of repair; broken

verb

1. (tr) to get by begging; cadge

   to bum a lift

2. to live by begging or as a vagrant or loafer

3. to spend time to no good purpose; loaf; idle

4. slang,  to disappoint, annoy, or upset someone

adjective

1. (prenominal) of poor quality; useless

2. wrong or inappropriate

   a bum note

bum

²

/ bʌm /

noun

1. slang,  the buttocks or anus

Word History and Origins

Origin of bum¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1860–65; perhaps a shortening of or back formation from bummer ¹; adjective senses of unclear relation to sense “loafer” and perhaps of distinct origin

Origin of bum²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English bom; of uncertain origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of bum¹

C19: probably shortened from earlier bummer a loafer, probably from German bummeln to loaf

Origin of bum²

C14: of uncertain origin

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. on the bum,

   1. living or traveling as or in a manner suggesting that of a hobo or tramp.

   2. in a state of disrepair or disorder.

      The oven is on the bum again.

2. bum (someone) out, to disappoint, upset, or annoy.

   It really bummed me out that she could have helped and didn't.

More idioms and phrases containing bum

• on the blink (bum)

Example Sentences

Wells said he was angry with Gill because he felt he had been "using people around him, like me I guess, to put bums on seats".

Read more on BBC

He was short, with a Wall Street belly—not the bleacher bum’s boiler but the discreet, necessary pouch of a squirrel just before winter.

Read more on Literature

It's advice such as this that Lydia Cheetham from Penarth wishes she had been given eight years ago, when the trend was "big lips, big bum big cheeks - it was everything bigger," she said.

Read more on BBC

“Obviously, we’re more concerned in that spot to run and hand off and not have reads to go, but just the end result, obviously I’m bummed.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"If you obsess so much on youth that will bite you on the bum, unfortunately."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• bogus 
• fake 
• fraudulent 
• phony 
• sham