Link Centre Dictionary

bum

UK/bʌm/ US/ˈbʌm/ common informal slang uk
noun (4) verb (2) adjective (1)

noun

1.

a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible

  • “only a rotter would do that”
  • “kill the rat”
  • “throw the bum out”
  • “you cowardly little pukes!”
  • “the British call a contemptible person a”
  • “'”
Synonyms
2.

a disreputable vagrant

  • “a homeless tramp”
  • “he tried to help the really down-and-out bums”
Synonyms
3.

person who does no work

  • “a lazy bum”
Synonyms
4.

the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on

  • “he deserves a good kick in the butt”
  • “are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?”
Synonyms

verb

1.

ask for and get free; be a parasite

Synonyms
2.

adjective

1.

Origin

Attested since the 1300s, as Middle English bom (found in John Trevisa's 1387 Translation of the 'Polychronicon' of Ranulph Higden, "his bom is oute"), of uncertain origin. Sometimes suggested to be a shortening of botme, botom, bottum (“bottom”), but this is contradicted by the fact that bottom is not attested in reference to the buttocks until the late 1700s. Suggested by some old and modern references to be onomatopoeic. Compare also Old Irish, Scottish Gaelic bun (“base, bottom”). The anal sex senses (noun and verb), as well as the adjective (esp. the first) sense, are expletive-avoiding (i.e. Bowdlerized) shortenings of bumfuck.

Phrases

  • bum trip

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.