on the bum

noun

1. a person who avoids work and sponges on others; loafer; idler.
2. a tramp, hobo, or derelict.
3. Informal. an enthusiast of a specific sport or recreational activity, especially one who gives it priority over work, family life, etc.: a ski bum; a tennis bum.
4. Informal. an incompetent person.
5. a drunken orgy; debauch.

verb (used with object), bummed, bum·ming.

6. Informal. to borrow without expectation of returning; get for nothing; cadge: He’s always bumming cigarettes from me.
7. Slang. to ruin or spoil: The weather bummed our whole weekend.

verb (used without object), bummed, bum·ming.

8. to sponge on others for a living; lead an idle or dissolute life.
9. to live as a hobo.

adjective, bum·mer, bum·mest. Slang.

10. of poor, wretched, or miserable quality; worthless.
11. disappointing; unpleasant.
12. erroneous or ill-advised; misleading: That tip on the stock market was a bum steer.
13. lame: a bum leg.

Verb Phrases

14. bum around, Informal. to travel, wander, or spend one’s time aimlessly: We bummed around for a couple of hours after work.

Idioms

15. bum (someone) out, Slang. to disappoint, upset, or annoy: It really bummed me out that she could have helped and didn’t.
16. on the bum, Informal.
    1. living or traveling as or in a manner suggesting that of a hobo or tramp.
    2. in a state of disrepair or disorder: The oven is on the bum again.

noun

1. British slang the buttocks or anus

noun

1. a disreputable loafer or idler
2. a tramp; hobo
3. an irresponsible, unpleasant, or mean person
4. a person who spends a great deal of time on a specified sportbaseball bum
5. on the bum
   1. living as a loafer or vagrant
   2. out of repair; broken

verb bums, bumming or bummed

6. (tr) to get by begging; cadgeto bum a lift
7. (intr often foll by around) to live by begging or as a vagrant or loafer
8. (intr usually foll by around) to spend time to no good purpose; loaf; idle
9. bum someone off US and Canadian slang to disappoint, annoy, or upset someone

adjective

10. (prenominal) of poor quality; useless
11. wrong or inappropriatea bum note

n.1“buttocks,” late 14c., “probably onomatopœic, to be compared with other words of similar sound and with the general sense of ‘protuberance, swelling.’ ” [OED] n.2“dissolute loafer, tramp,” 1864, American English, from bummer “loafer, idle person” (1855), probably from German slang bummler “loafer,” from bummeln “go slowly, waste time.” Bum first appears in a German-American context, and bummer was popular in the slang of the North’s army in the American Civil War (as many as 216,000 German immigrants in the ranks). Bum’s rush “forcible ejection” first recorded 1910. v.1863, “to loaf and beg,” American English, a word from the Civil War, perhaps a back-formation from bummer “loafer,” or from bum (n.). Meaning “to feel depressed” is from 1973, perhaps from bummer in the “bad experience” sense. Related: Bummed; bumming. adj.“of poor quality,” 1859, American English, from bum (n.). Bum steer in figurative sense of “bad advice” attested from 1901. see under on the blink. In addition to the idioms beginning with bum

bum around

bum out

bum rap

bum steer

also see:

on the blink (bum)