coom

American  

[koom] / kum /

Or coomb

noun

Chiefly Scot. and North England.

1. soot; coal dust; smut.

2. dust, especially sawdust or dust from a gristmill.

3. grease from bearings, axles, etc.

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coom British  

/ kuːm /

noun

1. dialect waste material, such as dust from coal, grease from axles, etc

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Etymology

Origin of coom

First recorded in 1580–90; variant of culm ¹

Example Sentences

Martha sprang at the solicitor with an eerie screech: “Hev ye coom to steal oor bairn, the bonny lad we’ve reared i’ infancy an’ childhood?

From The Revellers by Tracy, Louis

I knew you didn’t want me seen about here, and thought I would be safest to coom up afore the sarvints were stirrin’.

From The White Gauntlet by Reid, Mayne

Katy had occasionally poked her head in at the door, entreating “whin they coom to the scroobing” to call her.

From Molly Brown of Kentucky by Speed, Nell

“Yes,” rejoins the rustic, “soo there ees, but you a’n’t coom to un yit, master.”

From The Dover Road Annals of an Ancient Turnpike by Harper, Charles G.

He turned and faced the elderly couple, and John Bolland spoke: “So ye’ve coom yam, eh?”

From The Revellers by Tracy, Louis