Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Bait usually consisting of oily fish ground up and scattered on the water.
- intransitive verb To scatter such bait in order to lure fish.
- intransitive verb To lure (fish) with such bait.
- noun An intimate friend or companion.
- intransitive verb To be an intimate friend.
- intransitive verb To display good-natured friendliness.
- intransitive verb To share the same room, as in a dormitory.
- noun A chum salmon.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A bait, consisting usually of pieces of some oily fish, as the menhaden, commonly employed in the capture of bluefish.
- noun One who lodges or resides in the same chamber or rooms with another; a room-mate: especially applied to college students.
- noun Hence An intimate companion; a crony.
- noun In ceramics, a block upon which an unbaked vessel is fitted when attached to the lathe to be turned. See
thrown-ware , under pottery. - To occupy the same room or chambers with another; be the chum of some one.
- To put into the same room or rooms with another; put into common quarters.
- Formerly, in some English prisons, to receive, as a new inmate, by a rough ceremony of initiation, beating him with staves, etc., and making him pay an entrance-fee, the whole being accompanied by masquerading and music: sometimes used with up.
- noun A tent; a dwelling.
- To fish with chum.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A roommate, especially in a college or university; an old and intimate friend.
- noun [Australia] a recent immigrant.
- intransitive verb United States To occupy a chamber with another.
- noun United States Chopped pieces of fish used as bait.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun fishing A mixture of (frequently
rancid ) fish parts and blood, dumped into the water to attractpredator fish, such assharks . - verb fishing To cast chum into the water to attract fish.
- noun A
friend ; apal . - noun A
roommate . - verb To share
rooms with; to live together. - verb To make friends with; to
socialize . - verb Scotland, informal To
accompany .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities
- noun bait consisting of chopped fish and fish oils that are dumped overboard to attract fish
- noun a large Pacific salmon with small spots on its back; an important food fish
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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She used the creature far more than Dorothy, as was natural and right enough; and had mounted it that day to escape what she called her chum's "everlasting fiddling."
Dorothy's Travels Evelyn Raymond 1876
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The only thing crueler than that would be to coat them in chum and dump them in the great white shark infested waters off of South Africa.
Think Progress » Who Is Randy ‘Baby Killer’ Neugebauer? 2010
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The common name chum derives from the Native American Chinook language word for “striped” or “variegated” and is descriptive of the streaks and blotches found on the body of a chum as it nears spawning time.
Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002
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The common name chum derives from the Native American Chinook language word for “striped” or “variegated” and is descriptive of the streaks and blotches found on the body of a chum as it nears spawning time.
Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002
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The common name chum derives from the Native American Chinook language word for “striped” or “variegated” and is descriptive of the streaks and blotches found on the body of a chum as it nears spawning time.
Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002
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The common name chum derives from the Native American Chinook language word for “striped” or “variegated” and is descriptive of the streaks and blotches found on the body of a chum as it nears spawning time.
Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002
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I called my chum and asked him if Murphy was good for a drink, he replied, "Has he got it?"
Dangers of the Trail in 1865 A Narrative of Actual Events H. DeF. [Illustrator] Patterson
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The lad whom he called his chum, the best of his pals would be gone for ever, in a few hours.
The Crystal Stopper Maurice Leblanc 1902
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Then, thinking it was time for Phil to rejoin them, they called their chum's name.
Dave Porter at Star Ranch Or, The Cowboy's Secret Edward Stratemeyer 1896
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He questioned me about the fate of the Captain Mironoff, whom he called his chum, and often interrupted me by sententious remarks, which, if they did not prove him to be a man well versed in war, showed his natural intelligence and shrewdness.
Marie; a story of Russian love Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin 1818
skipvia commented on the word chum
In Alaska, chum is a plentiful species of salmon sometimes referred to as "dog salmon" since they usually end up as food for sled dogs. They are also dried and smoked for human consumption.
November 5, 2007
bilby commented on the word chum
"'The Labor party has spent the last two weeks and the better part of the last few months demonising Tony Abbott,' he told ABC television, likening it to a similar campaign against Queensland LNP leader Campbell Newman before the state election earlier this year.
'They want to destroy his character.'
Mr Pyne said Mr Abbott was the most experienced 'would-be prime minister' in history.
'Unfortunately, with the Labor party, when they have their backs to the wall and they've tried everything else, they eventually turn to the chum bucket,' Mr Pyne said."
- AAP, Labor views 'positive' polls with caution, news.com.au, 17 Sep 2012.
September 22, 2012
scarequotes commented on the word chum
http://www.theawl.com/2015/06/a-complete-taxonomy-of-internet-chum
Clicking on a chumlink—even one on the site of a relatively high-class chummer, like nymag.com—is a guaranteed way to find more, weirder, grosser chum. The boxes are daisy-chained together in an increasingly cynical, gross funnel; quickly, the open ocean becomes a sewer of chum.
June 5, 2015