BUM (bummed, bumming)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: bummed    , bumming   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bum mean? 

• BUM (noun)
  The noun BUM has 4 senses:

1. a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible

2. a vagrant

3. person who does no work

4. the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on

  Familiarity information: BUM used as a noun is uncommon.

• BUM (adjective)
  The adjective BUM has 1 sense:

1. of very poor quality; flimsy

  Familiarity information: BUM used as an adjective is very rare.

• BUM (verb)
  The verb BUM has 2 senses:

1. ask for and get free; be a parasite

2. be lazy or idle

  Familiarity information: BUM used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

bum; crumb; dirty dog; git; lowlife; puke; rat; rotter; scum bag; skunk; so-and-so; stinker; stinkpot

Context example:

the British call a contemptible person a 'git'

Hypernyms ("bum" is a kind of...):

disagreeable person; unpleasant person (a person who is not pleasant or agreeable)

Derivation:

bum (of very poor quality; flimsy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A vagrant

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

bum; hobo; tramp

Context example:

he tried to help the really down-and-out bums

Hypernyms ("bum" is a kind of...):

clochard; drifter; floater; vagabond; vagrant (a wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bum"):

dosser; street person (someone who sleeps in any convenient place)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Person who does no work

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

bum; do-nothing; idler; layabout; loafer

Context example:

a lazy bum

Hypernyms ("bum" is a kind of...):

nonworker (a person who does nothing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bum"):

clock watcher (a worker preoccupied with the arrival of quitting time)

whittler (someone who whittles (usually as an idle pastime))

trifler (one who behaves lightly or not seriously)

sunbather (someone who basks in the sunshine in order to get a suntan)

spiv (a person without employment who makes money by various dubious schemes; goes about smartly dressed and having a good time)

slug; sluggard (an idle slothful person)

shirker; slacker (a person who shirks his work or duty (especially one who tries to evade military service in wartime))

loon (a worthless lazy fellow)

lie-abed; slugabed (a person who stays in bed until a relatively late hour)

lazybones (a lazy person)

goldbrick; good-for-naught; good-for-nothing; goof-off; ne'er-do-well; no-account (an idle worthless person)

daydreamer; woolgatherer (someone who indulges in idle or absentminded daydreaming)

dawdler; drone; laggard; lagger; poke; trailer (someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind)

dallier; dilly-dallier; dillydallier; lounger; mope (someone who wastes time)

couch potato (an idler who spends much time on a couch (usually watching television))

Derivation:

bum (ask for and get free; be a parasite)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

arse; ass; backside; behind; bottom; bum; buns; butt; buttocks; can; derriere; fanny; fundament; hind end; hindquarters; keister; nates; posterior; prat; rear; rear end; rump; seat; stern; tail; tail end; tooshie; tush

Context example:

are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?

Hypernyms ("bum" is a kind of...):

body part (any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity)

Holonyms ("bum" is a part of...):

body; torso; trunk (the body excluding the head and neck and limbs)

• BUM (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of very poor quality; flimsy

Synonyms:

bum; cheap; cheesy; chintzy; crummy; punk; sleazy; tinny

Similar:

inferior (of low or inferior quality)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Derivation:

bum (a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible)

• BUM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bum    ... he / she / it bums   
Past simple: bummed   
Past participle: bummed   
-ing form: bumming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Ask for and get free; be a parasite

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

bum; cadge; grub; mooch; sponge

Hypernyms (to "bum" is one way to...):

obtain (come into possession of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bum"):

freeload (live off somebody's generosity)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bum (person who does no work)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be lazy or idle

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

arse about; arse around; bum; bum about; bum around; frig around; fuck off; loaf; loll; loll around; lounge about; lounge around; waste one's time

Context example:

Her son is just bumming around all day

Hypernyms (to "bum" is one way to...):

idle; laze; slug; stagnate (be idle; exist in a changeless situation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

The children of the neighborhood recovered from the awe of the grand carriage which once had visited Martin, and from safe distances they called him "hobo" and "bum."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

"He knows better than to come bumming around here. A man who won't work is no good, take that from me."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He was probably bumming his way home. He told me he was president of your class at Yale.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

He came only once, in white knickerbockers, and had a fight with a bum named Etty in the garden.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)