I. ˈchəm noun
( -s )
Etymology: perhaps by shortening & alteration from chamber fellow
1. archaic : roommate
2. : an habitual intimate companion : a close friend
a boyhood chum of his
II. verb
( chummed ; chummed ; chumming ; chums )
intransitive verb
1. : to share quarters : room together
the two bedrooms to each study favored the pleasant custom of chumming — George Santayana
2.
a. : to be a chum : be on terms of intimate friendship — usually used with with
he soon chummed with du Maurier and me in several languages and became one of our set — Felix Moscheles
b. : to show affable friendliness : form close friendship — usually used with up
two husbands might chum up and slip out for a light ale — Elizabeth Taylor
transitive verb
: to place in the same quarters with another — usually used with on
the college chummed him on a student from Duluth
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. : chopped fish, vegetable matter, or small live fish thrown overboard to draw fish to a fishing boat
2.
a. : refuse or scrap fish (as in a fish cannery)
b. : the pulp left after expressing oil from menhaden
IV. verb
( chummed ; chummed ; chumming ; chums )
intransitive verb
: to attract fish with chum
transitive verb
: to attract by chumming
chumming the fish with cut-up shrimp
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: perhaps from Chinook Jargon tsum, tzum spots, writing, from Chinook
: a dog salmon ( Oncorhynchus keta )
VI. noun
( -s )
Etymology: perhaps alteration of chump (I)
: a cradle used in ceramics for turning a form
VII. ˈchüm, ˈchəm noun
( -s )
Etymology: Russian, of Finnic origin; akin to Zyrian t' śom tent, hut, Votyak tšum
: a tepeelike shelter especially of skins, turf, or fibers used as a summer dwelling by the Samoyeds, Buryats, Tungus, and other peoples of northern Eurasia — compare yurt