chum

[chuhm]

See more synonyms for chum on Thesaurus.com

noun

a close or intimate companion: boyhood chums.
a roommate, as at college.

verb (used without object), chummed, chum·ming.

to associate closely.
to share a room or rooms with another, especially in a dormitory at a college or prep school.

Origin of chum

First recorded in 1675–85; of uncertain origin

chum

[chuhm]

noun

cut or ground bait dumped into the water to attract fish to the area where one is fishing.
fish refuse or scraps discarded by a cannery.

verb (used without object), chummed, chum·ming.

to fish by attracting fish by dumping cut or ground bait into the water.

verb (used with object), chummed, chum·ming.

to dump chum into (a body of water) so as to attract fish.
to lure (fish) with chum: They chummed the fish with hamburger.

Origin of chum

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60; of uncertain origin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for chumming

troll, trawl, angle, chum, extricate, bob, cast, produce, bait, net, extract, find, seine

Examples from the Web for chumming

Contemporary Examples of chumming

Those brick-laying years chumming it up with calloused day laborers in Sydney are finally paying off.
Hollywood's New Macho Man
Gina Piccalo
April 1, 2010

Historical Examples of chumming

So far they had gone no further than chumming like old friends.
His Masterpiece
Emile Zola
Ain't that what I've been tryin' to preach to you ever since we've been chumming together?
Just Around the Corner
Fannie Hurst
We found him chumming with the horse, and called him out of the stable.
Adventures in Swaziland
Owen Rowe O'Neil
This criminal "chumming" has yielded good returns, as a rule.
Cad Metti, The Female Detective Strategist
Harlan Page Halsey
The subject of this reflection was quite happy in the bow, chumming with The Crew.
Two Knapsacks
John Campbell

British Dictionary definitions for chumming

chum

noun

informal a close friend

verb chums, chumming or chummed

(intr usually foll by up with) to be or become an intimate friend (of)
(tr) Scot to accompanyI'll chum you home

Word Origin for chum

C17 (meaning: a person sharing rooms with another): probably shortened from chamber fellow, originally student slang (Oxford); compare crony

chum

noun

angling, mainly US and Canadian chopped fish, meal, etc, used as groundbait

Word Origin for chum

C19: origin uncertain

chum

noun

a Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus keta

Word Origin for chum

from Chinook Jargon tsum spots, marks, from Chinook

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for chumming

chum

n.1

"friend," 1680s, originally university slang for "roommate," from alternative spelling of cham, short for chamber(mate); typical of the late-17c. fondness for clipped words. Among derived forms used 19c. were chumship; chummery "shared bachelor quarters," chummage "system of quartering more than one to a room."

chum

n.2

"fish bait," 1857, perhaps from Scottish chum "food."