I. bum 1 /bʌm/ BrE AmE noun [countable] informal
[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: Probably from bummer 'bum' (19-20 centuries) , perhaps from German bummler 'lazy person' ]
1 . British English the part of your body that you sit on SYN bottom
2 . American English someone, especially a man, who has no home or job, and who asks people for money
3 . beach/ski etc bum someone who spends all their time on the beach, ↑ ski ing etc without having a job
4 . someone who is very lazy
5 . get/put bums on seats British English informal to make a large number of people go to see a film, play, sports match etc:
She’s the kind of star who will put bums on seats.
6 . give somebody the bum's rush informal to make someone leave a place, especially a public place, quickly
II. bum 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle bummed , present participle bumming ) [transitive] British English informal
to ask someone for something such as money, food, or cigarettes SYN cadge :
She bummed a little cash off me.
bum around phrasal verb informal
1 . ( also bum about ) to spend time lazily doing nothing
2 . bum around something to travel around, living very cheaply, without having any plans:
He spent a year bumming around Australia.
III. bum 3 BrE AmE adjective [only before noun] informal
1 . bad and useless:
The orchestra was excellent. No one played a bum note.
Jim got a bum deal (=unfair treatment) .
2 . a bum ankle/leg etc American English an injured ↑ ankle , leg etc