bum
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English bum (“buttocks, bottom”), a syncopated form of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English botym (“bottom”). Compare also (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Irish, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Scottish Gaelic bun (“base, bottom”). More at bottom.
Noun
bum (plural bums)
- The buttocks.
- Okay, everyone sit on your bum and try and touch your toes.
- (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, informal, rare, Canada, US) The anus.
- (by metonymy, informal) A person.
Usage notes
- In Canada, bum is considered the most appropriate term when speaking to young children, as in Everyone please sit on your bum and we'll read a story. In the United States, bum is not often used in this sense (though this may vary from dialect to dialect) except in conscious imitation of British English. The term butt is the most common term in North America except in professional contexts such as medical, legal, and scientific where buttocks is generally used or gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, etc. for the muscles specifically. Glutes is often used in sports medicine and bodybuilding. Ass (originally a dialectal variant of arse) is considered vulgar in North America, whereas backside, behind, and bottom are considered to be non-specific terms.
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:bum.
Synonyms
- (buttocks or anus): arse (UK, Irish, Australian, New Zealand, Canada), ass (North America), backside, behind, bottom, butt (North America), heinie (North America), fanny (North America), tush (North America), tushie (North America)
- (buttocks specifically): butt cheeks (North America), buttocks (technical), nether cheek, arsecheek, asscheek, cheeks, glutes (muscles), gluteus maximus (primary muscles)
- (anus specifically): anus (technical), arsehole (UK, Irish, Australian, New Zealand), asshole (North America)
- See also Thesaurus:anus
Translations
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Verb
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- (UK, transitive, colloquial) To sodomize; to engage in anal sex.
Interjection
bum
- (UK) An expression of annoyance.
- 2010, Jill Mansell, Sheer Mischief:
- Maxine tried hers. 'Oh bum,' she said crossly. 'The sugar isn't sugar. It's salt.'
- 2010, Jill Mansell, Sheer Mischief:
Derived terms
Etymology 2
1864, back-formation from bummer, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“loaf”)
Noun
bum (plural bums)
- (US, Canada, colloquial, sometimes derogatory) A homeless person, usually a man.
- (US, Canada, Australia, colloquial) A lazy, incompetent, or annoying person, usually a man.
- Fred is becoming a bum - he's not even bothering to work more than once a month.
- That mechanic's a bum - he couldn't fix a yo-yo.
- That guy keeps interrupting the concert. Throw the bum out!
- 1987, The Pogues - Fairytale of New York
- You're a bum
- You're a punk
- You're an old slut on junk
- Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
- 1988, Michael Weikath, "Keeper of the Seven Keys", Helloween, Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II.
- Man who do you just think you are? / A silly bum with seven stars
- (US, Canada, Australia, colloquial, sports) A player or racer who often performs poorly.
- Trade him to another team, he's a bum!
- 2001, Laura Hillenbrand - Seabiscuit: An American Legend
- Seabiscuit, wrote another reporter, “was a hero in California and a pretty fair sort of horse in the midwest. In the east, however, he was just a ‘bumʼ”
- (colloquial) A drinking spree.
Synonyms
- (hobo): hobo, homeless person, tramp, vagrant, wanderer, vagabond
- (lazy person): loafer, bumpkin, footler, idler, lout, yob, yobbo, layabout
- (drinking spree): binge, bender
- See also Thesaurus:vagabond
- See also Thesaurus:idler
Translations
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Verb
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- (transitive, colloquial) To ask someone to give one (something) for free; to beg for something.
- Can I bum a cigarette off you?
- (intransitive, colloquial) To stay idle and unproductive, like a hobo or vagabond; to loiter.
- I think I'll just bum around downtown for awhile until dinner.
- (transitive, slang, British) To wet the end of a marijuana cigarette (spliff).
Synonyms
- cadge (British)
Translations
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Adjective
bum (comparative bummer, superlative bummest)
- Of poor quality or highly undesirable.
- bum note
- Unfair.
- bum deal
- Injured and without the possibility of full repair, defective.
- I can't play football anymore on account of my bum knee.
- Unpleasant or unhappy.
- He had a bum trip on that mescaline.
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:bum.
Synonyms
- (defective): duff (UK)
Translations
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Derived terms
Etymology 3
Back-formation from bum out.
Verb
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- To depress; to make unhappy.
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “bum”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Etymology 4
See boom.
Noun
bum (plural bums)
- (dated) A humming noise.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
Verb
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- (intransitive) To make a murmuring or humming sound.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Jamieson to this entry?)
Etymology 5
Abbreviations.
Noun
bum (plural bums)
- (obsolete) A bumbailiff.
- 1705, Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees:
- About her Chariot, and behind, / Were Sergeants, Bums of every kind, / Tip-staffs, and all those Officers, / That squeeze a Living out of Tears.
- 1705, Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees:
Anagrams
Albanian
Etymology
From English boom with orthographic adaptation.
Noun
bum
Irish
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
bum m (genitive singular bum, nominative plural bumanna)
Declension
Synonyms
Mutation
Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
bum | bhum | mbum |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Mizo
Pronunciation
Verb
bum
Polish
Pronunciation
Interjection
bum
Portuguese
Interjection
bum!
- boom (sound of explosion)
Serbo-Croatian
Verb
bum (Cyrillic spelling бум)
Spanish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Interjection
- boom (used to suggest the sound of an explosion)
- boom (used to suggest something happening suddenly and unexpectedly)
See also
Transylvanian Saxon
Noun
bum m
References
Volapük
Pronunciation
Noun
bum (nominative plural bums)
- act of building
Declension
Derived terms
Welsh
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "cy-N" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /bɨ̞m/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "cy-S" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /bɪm/
Numeral
bum
- Soft mutation of pum (“five”).
Mutation
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ʌm
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- British English
- Irish English
- Australian English
- New Zealand English
- English informal terms
- English terms with rare senses
- Canadian English
- American English
- English transitive verbs
- English colloquialisms
- English interjections
- English back-formations
- English terms derived from German
- English derogatory terms
- English terms with quotations
- en:Sports
- English intransitive verbs
- English slang
- English adjectives
- English dated terms
- Requests for quotations/Halliwell
- Requests for quotations/Jamieson
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Buttocks
- en:People
- Albanian terms borrowed from English
- Albanian terms derived from English
- Albanian lemmas
- Albanian nouns
- sq:Economics
- Irish lemmas
- Irish nouns
- Irish masculine nouns
- ga:Sailing
- Irish fourth-declension nouns
- Mizo terms with IPA pronunciation
- Mizo lemmas
- Mizo verbs
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Polish lemmas
- Polish interjections
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese interjections
- Serbo-Croatian non-lemma forms
- Serbo-Croatian verb forms
- Kajkavian Serbo-Croatian
- Spanish onomatopoeias
- Spanish 1-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Transylvanian Saxon lemmas
- Transylvanian Saxon nouns
- Transylvanian Saxon masculine nouns
- gmw-tsx:Trees
- Volapük terms with IPA pronunciation
- Volapük lemmas
- Volapük nouns
- Welsh terms with IPA pronunciation
- Welsh non-lemma forms
- Welsh mutated numerals
- Welsh soft-mutation forms