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chum1

[chuhm]
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noun
  1. a close or intimate companion: boyhood chums.
  2. a roommate, as at college.
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verb (used without object), chummed, chum·ming.
  1. to associate closely.
  2. to share a room or rooms with another, especially in a dormitory at a college or prep school.
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Origin of chum1

First recorded in 1675–85; of uncertain origin

chum2

[chuhm]
noun
  1. cut or ground bait dumped into the water to attract fish to the area where one is fishing.
  2. fish refuse or scraps discarded by a cannery.
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verb (used without object), chummed, chum·ming.
  1. to fish by attracting fish by dumping cut or ground bait into the water.
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verb (used with object), chummed, chum·ming.
  1. to dump chum into (a body of water) so as to attract fish.
  2. to lure (fish) with chum: They chummed the fish with hamburger.
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Origin of chum2

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

trolltrawlanglechumextricatebobcastproducebaitnetextractfindseine

Examples from the Web for chumming

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British Dictionary definitions for chumming

chum1

noun
  1. informal a close friend
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verb chums, chumming or chummed
  1. (intr usually foll by up with) to be or become an intimate friend (of)
  2. (tr) Scot to accompanyI'll chum you home
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Word Origin

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

chum2

noun
  1. angling, mainly US and Canadian chopped fish, meal, etc, used as groundbait
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Word Origin

C19: origin uncertain

chum3

noun
  1. a Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus keta
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Word Origin

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."

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chum

n.2

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper