[count]
1
chiefly US, informal + disapproving : a person who has no place to live and no job and who asks people for money
-
Bums [=vagrants] often sleep on the park's benches.
-
a deserted building where bums [=derelicts] sometimes sleep
2
informal : a person who is lazy or who does something badly
-
Get to work, you lazy bum!
-
“He didn't even bother to write.” “What a bum!”
3
: a person who spends a lot of time relaxing and doing something fun rather than working
-
a beach bum [=a person who spends a lot of time at the beach]
— compare 5bum
[+ object] informal
: to get [something] for free by asking : to ask for and get [something]
-
Can I bum [=hitch] a ride with you?
-
She's always bumming cigarettes off people.
bum around
[phrasal verb] informal or British bum about
1
bum around/about or bum around/about [a place] : to spend time relaxing in [a place] instead of working
-
I spent the whole day just bumming around the house.
2
bum around/about [a place] : to spend time living and traveling in [a place] without a job or much money
-
After graduation, she bummed around Mexico for a while.
— compare 3bum
US, informal
1
[+ object] : to cause [someone] to feel sad or disappointed — usually + out
-
The news really bummed me out. = I was really bummed [out] by the news.
2
always used in progressive tenses, [no object] : to feel sad or disappointed about something
-
She's bumming because she can't go to the concert.
— compare 2bum
— bummed
adjective [more bummed; most bummed]
-
He's pretty bummed about not getting the scholarship.
always used before a noun informal
1
: of bad quality
-
We lost money thanks to your bum [=bad] advice.
-
I got a bum deal on this car. [=this car is worth much less than what I paid for it]
2
: not legally acceptable : not valid
-
He's known for writing/passing bum checks. [=checks that promise money he does not have; checks that bounce]
3
US : injured or damaged
-
He has a bum knee/ankle/leg. [=his knee/ankle/leg does not function properly, is painful, etc.]
[count] chiefly British, informal
: the part of the body that you sit on : buttocks
-
He slipped and fell on his bum. [=behind, backside, bottom]
-
Get off your bum [=butt] and get to work!
get/put bums on seats
British, informal
: to attract people to see a movie, play, game, etc.
-
She has the looks and voice that really get/put bums on seats.
— compare 1bum
This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. / bʌm /
See synonyms for: bum / bummed / bummer / bummest on Thesaurus.com
This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
a person who avoids work and sponges on others; loafer; idler.
a tramp, hobo, or derelict.
Informal. an enthusiast of a specific sport or recreational activity, especially one who gives it priority over work, family life, etc.: a ski bum; a tennis bum.
Informal. an incompetent person.
verb [used with object], bummed, bum·ming.
Informal. to borrow without expectation of returning; get for nothing; cadge: He's always bumming cigarettes from me.
Slang. to ruin or spoil: The weather bummed our whole weekend.
verb [used without object], bummed, bum·ming.
to sponge on others for a living; lead an idle or dissolute life.
adjective, bum·mer, bum·mest. Slang. of poor, wretched, or miserable quality; unsatisfactory: I figured $300 was a bum deal for a minor repair, but I paid it anyway. Slang. fraudulent or fake: He was accused of issuing a bum check for $2920. Slang. disappointing; unpleasant. Slang. erroneous or ill-advised; misleading: I think the gauge is giving me a bum readout. Slang. physically disabled, impaired, or injured: a bum leg.
bum around, Informal. to travel, wander, or spend one's time aimlessly: We bummed around for a couple of hours after work.
See synonyms for bum on Thesaurus.com
QUIZ YOURSELF ON HAS VS. HAVE!
Do you have the grammar chops to know when to use “have” or “has”? Let’s find out with this quiz!
My grandmother ________ a wall full of antique cuckoo clocks.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT
Meet Grammar Coach
Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing
bum [someone] out, Slang. to disappoint, upset, or annoy: It really bummed me out that she could have helped and didn't. on the bum, Informal.
1
An Americanism first recorded in 1860–65; perhaps a shortening of or back formation from bummer1; adjective senses of unclear relation to sense “loafer” and perhaps of distinct origin
bulrush, Bultmann, bulwark, Bulwer, Bulwer-Lytton, bum, bum around, bum bag, bumbailiff, bumbershoot, bumble
/ bʌm / noun Chiefly British Slang.
2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English bom; of uncertain origin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022
derelict, drifter, floater, hobo, stiff, tramp, transient, vagabond, vagrant, bindle, bindlestiff, black sheep, guttersnipe
Neither high-rise nor bikini style, it sits a couple of inches below the belly button and provides full bum coverage—nothing fancy, just a classic fit.
So, if you were ever bummed out in the way Feld suggested, cheer up—the reality is much more complicated than the headline.
So in late 1975, they bummed around all up and down the California heartland, casing various country towns and accounting for their advantages and disadvantages.
The ballad of the Chowchilla bus kidnapping|Kaleb Horton|July 23, 2021|Vox
I glanced up and saw it was none other than the stranger who had bummed cigarettes from us.
When I was 27, I quit my job to travel and ski-bum, and by that point I had managed to save a small sum that could float me for a year.
Rumours that Lego are producing a new clip-on Pippa Bum are unfounded.
Lego Queen|Tom Sykes|April 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Bum-boats selling goods before sunrising and after sunsetting are very hardly dealt with.
Rivers of Great Britain. The Thames, from Source to Sea.|Anonymous
So Jack gave the cow to the man and took the Bum-clock himself, and started for home.
Stories to Read or Tell from Fairy Tales and Folklore|Laure Claire Foucher
And when the man lifted the Bum-clock and put it in his pocket, everybody stopped jigging and dancing and everyone laughed loud.
Stories to Read or Tell from Fairy Tales and Folklore|Laure Claire Foucher
An intelligent correspondent suggests that brandy would be about the thing, but that it should be labelled "Bay Bum."
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 24, September 10, 1870|Various
They served us desserts made with Bum Berry goo As we danced to the tune of the didgeridoo.
FreeChildrenStories.com Collection|Daniel Errico
British slang the buttocks or anus
a disreputable loafer or idler an irresponsible, unpleasant, or mean person a person who spends a great deal of time on a specified sportbaseball bum on the bum
verb bums, bumming or bummed
[tr] to get by begging; cadgeto bum a lift
[intr often foll by around] to live by begging or as a vagrant or loafer
[intr usually foll by around] to spend time to no good purpose; loaf; idle
bum someone off US and Canadian slang to disappoint, annoy, or upset someone
[prenominal] of poor quality; useless
wrong or inappropriatea bum note
C19: probably shortened from earlier bummer a loafer, probably from German bummeln to loaf
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
In addition to the idioms beginning with bum
also see:
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
FEEDBACK© 2022 Dictionary.com, LLC