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.
Meanings
(Ireland, UK, childish, euphemistic) An expression of annoyance.
Maxine tried hers. ‘Oh bum,’ she said crossly. ‘The sugar isn’t sugar. It’s salt.’ 2010, Jill Mansell, Sheer Mischief:
(more vulgar)
Deriveds
with a thumb up one's bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum burp (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum roll (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumbaste (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bums in seats (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · face like a smacked bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum crack (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · squeaky bum time (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum-squabble (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bite in the bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · shiny bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum fuck nowhere (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumster (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum boy (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumtastic (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum fodder (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumfuck (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumhole (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum chum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum squabbled (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum sex (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum-bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumboy (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum-sucking (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumload (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · smooth as a baby's bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · kick up the bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum-clock (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · builder's bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumsters (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum wine (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumsucker (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum fluff (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum-breathing (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumshoving (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum-fluff (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum shuffle (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · land with one's bum in the butter (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumfreezer (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum-fuck nowhere (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumwad (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · shitbum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum cheeks (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bare-bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum head (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum squabble (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum-sucker (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · belfie (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumfluff (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum gun (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum chin (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum cleavage (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum bag (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · Bumfuck (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumfoolery (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · head down, bum up (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bum-fluffed (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · underbum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · front bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumlord (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · pain in the bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · bumfodder (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1) · face like a slapped bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 1)
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.
Meanings
(Commonwealth, childish, informal) The buttocks.
Okay, everyone sit on your bum and try and touch your toes.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:bum.
(Commonwealth, childish, informal, specifically) The anus.
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])? 2016, Lisa Keenan-Lindsay, Cheryl Sams, Constance L. O'Connor, Maternal Child Nursing Care in Canada, page 118:
John said that when he was little he stuck his finger in his bum and tasted his poopies and it was good. 2013, Steven L. Ablon, Daniel P. Brown, Edward J. Khantzian, Human Feelings: Explorations in Affect Development and Meaning, page 132:
What could the man possibly be hiding up his bum anyway? 2015, Jonathan Nicholas, Who'd be a copper?: Thirty years a frontline British cop:
[…] and said Daddy had put a finger up her bum. 2017, Jean Renvoize, Innocence Destroyed: A Study of Child Sexual Abuse:
(East-Midlands, slang, vulgar) An act of anal sex.
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.
Meanings
(Ireland, UK, colloquial, transitive) 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? 2016 December 3, “Soph Aspin Send”, performed by Millie B:
1864, back-formation from bummer, from German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“to loaf”).
Meanings
(colloquial, slang) Of poor quality or highly undesirable.
"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." 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 4:
What kind of bum note was that??
The defensive line made a bum rush on the quarterback.
(colloquial, slang) Unfair.
The union reps gave us a bum deal!
(colloquial, slang) Injured and without the possibility of full repair, defective.
I can’t play football anymore on account of my bum knee.
(colloquial, slang) Unpleasant or unhappy.
He had a bum trip on that mescaline.
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
bummest
Degree=Sup
lexicographic
bummer
Degree=Cmp
lexicographic
Deriveds
bummy (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · beach bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · corporate welfare bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · schooner bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · saddle bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bum trip · bum rush (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · on the bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bumsicle (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bum deal (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bum steer (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · saddlebum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bummery (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bum's rush (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bum calf (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · welfare bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · saddle-bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · stumblebum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · stewbum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bumhood (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bum note (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bum rap (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · shovelbum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bum-rush (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bum around (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · ski bum (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2) · bum factory (Terms derived from senses associated with etymology 2)
de unsauber (unfair) · de unredlich (unfair) · de erbärmlich (of poor quality or highly undesirable) · de armselig (of poor quality or highly undesirable) · de unfair (unfair) · de nachhaltig beschädigt (defective) · bg повреден (of poor quality or highly undesirable) · hu vacak (defective) · hu selejtes (defective) · bg нечестен (unfair) · de unehrlich (unfair) · de schlecht (of poor quality or highly undesirable) · de miserabel (of poor quality or highly undesirable) · de unlauter (unfair) · bg негоден (of poor quality or highly undesirable) · de mies (of poor quality or highly undesirable) · it scadente (of poor quality or highly undesirable)
1864, back-formation from bummer, from German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“to loaf”).
Meanings
(colloquial, derogatory, sometimes) A homeless person, usually a man.
(also, broadly, colloquial, derogatory, sometimes) A lazy, incompetent, or annoying person, usually a man.
That guy keeps interrupting the concert. Throw the bum out!
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.
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 1987, “Fairytale of New York”, performed by The Pogues:
Man who do you just think you are? / A silly bum with seven stars 1988, Michael Weikath, “Keeper of the Seven Keys”, in Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II, performed by Helloween:
(colloquial) 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” 2001, Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit: An American Legend:
nl aftroggelen (to beg for something) · fi pummata (to beg for something) · nl bietsen (to beg for something) · no bomme (to beg for something) · de schnorren (to beg for something) · ru кля́нчить (to beg for something) · fr glandouiller (to stay idle and unproductive) · fr glander (to stay idle and unproductive) · cs loudit (to beg for something) · cs vyloudit (to beg for something) · cs vysomrovat (to beg for something) · cs vyžebrat si (to beg for something) · it oziare (to stay idle and unproductive) · fr taper (to beg for something) · cs somrovat (to beg for something) · it scroccare (to beg for something) · pt implorar (to beg for something) · it vagabondare (to stay idle and unproductive)
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: