n. Brit. sl. the buttocks.
Phrases and idioms:
bum-bailiff hist. a bailiff empowered to collect debts or arrest debtors for non-payment. bum-boat any small boat plying with provisions etc. for ships. bum-sucker sl. a toady. bum-sucking toadying.
Etymology: ME bom, of unkn. orig.
2.
n., v., & adj. US sl.
—n. a habitual loafer or tramp; a lazy dissolute person.
—v. (bummed, bumming)
1 intr. (often foll. by about, around) loaf or wander around; be a bum.
2 tr. get by begging; cadge.
—attrib.adj. of poor quality.
Phrases and idioms:
bum rap imprisonment on a false charge. bum's rush forcible ejection. bum steer false information. on the bum vagrant, begging.
Etymology: prob. abbr. or back-form. f. BUMMER
Useful english dictionary. 2012.