Dictionary

tum-tum en · NOUN · etymology 1

Etymology

Uncertain. Perhaps onomatopoeia (of hooves or footfalls); compare tuk-tuk. Perhaps from tandem.

Meanings

1. (India) A dog cart; a rickshaw; a kind of vehicle.
   • An optimistic old man was our driver; he needed all his optimism too, for his tum-tum was one of the most rickety I've seen , and his little pony very tiny. The balance of this vehicle was most important; we had to sit in certain definite positions ... 1914, Alice Maud Pennell, Pennell of the Afghan Frontier: The Life of Theodore Leighton Pennell, M.D., B. SC., F.R.C.S. Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India, page 414:
   • His fellow assistant, Dr Panna Lal, was in ecstasies at the prospect, and was urgent that they should attend it together in his new tum-tum. 1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 49:

Forms

tum-tum en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

Borrowed fom Twi Akan tumtum (“mashed green bananas”). Compare Sranan Tongo tonton (“mashed plantain dumpling”).

Meanings

1. (uncountable) A dish made in the West Indies by beating boiled plantain in a wooden mortar until it is soft.

Forms

tum-tum en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

Reduplication of tum, a shortened form of tummy.

Meanings

1. (childish, informal) Stomach.
   • Take a little food and stir in some GASTRIC JUICE, which is made fresh daily by the 35 million glands that line your tum-tum. 2000, Joy Masoff, Oh, Yuck!: The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty, Workman Publishing, published 2000, →ISBN, page 188:
   • Can't eat - my tum-tum's hurting.
2. (childish, informal) Abdomen.
   • The Internet is full of sites where you can buy everything you need to make a plaster mold of your tum-tum. 2011, Joanne Kimes, Leslie Young, Pregnancy Sucks: What to Do When Your Miracle Makes You Miserable, Adams Media, →ISBN, page 172:
   • The dog likes having its tum-tum rubbed.

Forms