bum

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“
And the bum was the guy who tried to put the knife in the back of Clinton.

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Definitions (41)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (15)

  1. noun A tramp; a vagrant.
  2. noun A lazy or shiftless person, especially one who seeks to live solely by the support of others.
  3. noun An incompetent, insignificant, or obnoxious person: The batter called the pitcher a bum.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (15)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (7)

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Examples (50)

  • Turns out the bum was an ex-cop Charlie knew from way back Tom Evergars," Vern said Yeah, that's him He and Charlie went through the academy together," Vern continued. —  AHMM,July-August2006
  • He looked more like a bum than a real bum, almost as if he had made up for the part Doc Savage leaned over and did several things to him. —  028 - The Roar Devil
  • About once a month a drunk or a bum was given a night's free lodging. —  081 - Hex
  • It just slid right into his hole as if his bum was a hungry animal devouring my meat. —  XXXX
  • Someone explained to someone else that the bum was afraid of the Communists. —  The Cosmic Rape
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This word has been looked up 176 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

beggar ·  whore ·  bastard ·  drunk ·  prostitute ·  addict

Used in the same contextWord Family

bum:   bums ·  bumming ·  bummed
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Back-formation from bummer.
  2. Middle English bom.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English bummen, bommen, bumben, bomben (see bomb, a variant form), hum, buzz, guzzle (= Dutch bommen = German bummen, hum, buzz; cf. Icelandic bumba, a drum); an imitative word, the earlier representative of boom: see boom, bumble, bump.
  2. from bum, v.
  3. Contr. of bottom.
  4. Short for bumbailiff.
 

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/bəm/
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