chum

English

Pronunciation

• (RP, US) IPA: /tʃʌm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌm

Etymology 1

Chum is one of the many words of Indian origin, e.g. pyjamas, bungalow, shampoo and chutney that have entered the English language because of the historical involvement of India and the British Empire.

The chummery was the Urdu name given to the building in which unmarried British army officers were quartered.

Noun

chum (plural chums)

1. A friend; a pal.

   I ran into an old chum from school the other day.

2. A roommate.
   • 1856 in The Knickerbocker: Or, New-York Monthly Magazine [1]

     Field had a 'chum,' or room-mate, whose visage was suggestive to the 'Sophs;' it invited experiment; it held out opportunity for their peculiar deviltry.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:friend

Verb

chum (third-person singular simple present chums, present participle chumming, simple past and past participle chummed)

1. To share rooms with; to live together.
   • 1899 Clyde Bowman Furst, A Group of Old Authors [2]

     Henry Wotton and John Donne began to be friends when, as boys, they chummed together at Oxford, where Donne had gone at the age of twelve years.

2. To make friends with; to socialize.
   • 1902 Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness [3]

     "I was not surprised to see somebody sitting aft, on the deck, with his legs dangling over the mud. You see I rather chummed with the few mechanics there were in that station, whom the other pilgrims naturally despised -- on account of their imperfect manners, I suppose. This was the foreman -- a boiler-maker by trade -- a good worker...

   • 1902 Ernest William Hornung, The Amateur Cracksman [4]

     "You'll make yourself disliked on board!"

     "By von Heumann merely."

     "But is that wise when he's the man we've got to diddle?"

     "The wisest thing I ever did. To have chummed up with him would have been fatal -- the common dodge."

3. (Scotland, informal) To accompany.

   I'll chum you down to the shops.

Etymology 2

Noun

chum (uncountable)

1. (fishing) A mixture of (frequently rancid) fish parts and blood, dumped into the water to attract predator fish, such as sharks.

Verb

chum (third-person singular simple present chums, present participle chumming, simple past and past participle chummed)

1. (fishing) To cast chum into the water to attract fish.
   • 1996 Frank Sargeant, The Reef Fishing Book: A Complete Anglers Guide [5]

     Small live baitfish are effective, and they will take bits of fresh cut fish when chummed strongly.

Anagrams

• much

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French

Noun

chum m. (plural chums)

1. (Canada, informal) A boyfriend (Feminine form: blonde).

   Elle m'a présenté son nouveau chum.

   She introduced me to her new boyfriend.

   Je croyais qu'il était rien qu'un ami à Éric mais en fait c'est son chum.

   I believed that he wasn't just another of Éric's friends, but in fact his boyfriend.

2. (Canada, chiefly slang) A friend, usually male; a chum (Feminine form: chum de fille).

   J'suis allé danser avec un gang de mes chums.

   I went to dance with a group of my male friends.

Synonyms

• (boyfriend): petit ami, ami de cœur, fiancé (dated), conjoint
• (friend): copain, ami

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Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA: [xuːmˠ], [xʊmˠ]

Verb form

chum

1. Mutated form of cum.
2. past indicative analytic of cum

Usage notes

Used with a noun or pronoun (in the standard language, mé, tú, sé, sí, sibh, siad or their emphatic equivalents) as the subject.

Related terms

• chumas (1st person sing., nonstandard)
• chumais (2d person sing., nonstandard)
• chumamar (1st person pl.)
• chumabhar (2d person pl., nonstandard)
• chumadar (3d person pl., nonstandard)

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Scottish Gaelic

Preposition

chum

1. Alternative form of chun.

Verb

chum

1. Past tense of cum