bum around
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Loaf, wander idly, as in After graduating he decided to bum around Europe for a year. [Mid-1800s]
Frequent bars or nightclubs, as in Her father accused her of bumming around half the night and threatened to cut off her allowance. In the mid-1800s to bum was slang for going on a drinking spree. A century later, with the addition of around, it simply meant going to saloons or clubs.
QUIZ
WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?
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Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.
Words nearby bum around
Bultmann, bulwark, Bulwer, Bulwer-Lytton, bum, bum around, bum bag, bumbailiff, bumbershoot, bumble, bumblebee
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.