bum

noun

/bʌm/

Etymology

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.

inherited from bom

Definitions

1
The buttocks.
- Okay, everyone sit on your bum and try and touch your toes.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:bum.
2
The anus.
- John said that when he was little he stuck his finger in his bum and tasted his poopies and it was good.
- What could the man possibly be hiding up his bum anyway?
- Do you have intercourse (i.e., Do you penetrate your partner in the vagina or anus [bum]? Or does your partner penetrate your vagina or anus [bum])?
3
An act of anal sex.
- Go for a bum
›+ 17 more definitionsshow fewer
1. 4
  To sodomize
  To sodomize; to engage in anal sex.
  - Your bars are fake and my bars are real; / Is it true you got bummed on a field?
2. 5
  An expression of annoyance.
  - (more vulgar)
  - Maxine tried hers. ‘Oh bum,’ she said crossly. ‘The sugar isn’t sugar. It’s salt.’
3. A homeless person, usually a man.
4. 7
  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!
5. 8
  A player or racer who often performs poorly.
  - Trade him to another team, he’s a bum!
  - 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”
6. A drinking spree.
7. 10
  [with off or (nonstandard) off of] To ask someone to give one (something) for free
  [with off or (nonstandard) off of] To ask someone to give one (something) for free; to beg for something.
  - Can I bum a cigarette off you?
8. 11
  To stay idle and unproductive, like a hobo or vagabond.
  - I think I’ll just bum around downtown for a while until dinner.
9. To wet the end of a marijuana cigarette (spliff).
10. 13
  Of poor quality or highly undesirable.
  - What kind of bum note was that??
  - The defensive line made a bum rush on the quarterback.
  - "So I can see my finish with that firm when this bum show is over." "Well, I think you're silly, the way you go out of your way to get McIntyre's goat. You do, don't deny it."
11. 14
  Unfair.
  - The union reps gave us a bum deal!
12. 15
  Injured and without the possibility of full repair, defective.
  - I can’t play football anymore on account of my bum knee.
13. 16
  Unpleasant or unhappy.
  - He had a bum trip on that mescaline.
14. To depress
  To depress; to make unhappy.
15. A humming noise.
16. 19
  To make a murmuring or humming sound.
  - English men bum there [Stirling] as thick as bees.
17. 20
  A bumbailiff.
  - About her Chariot, and behind, / Were Sergeants, Bums of every kind, / Tip-staffs, and all those Officers, / That squeeze a Living out of Tears.

The neighborhood

Derived

bum trip

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bum. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA