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chum

 [chuhm]   Example Sentences Origin

chum

1   [chuhm] noun, verb, chummed, chum·ming.
noun
1.
a close or intimate companion: boyhood chums.
2.
a roommate, as at college.
verb (used without object)
3.
to associate closely.
4.
to share a room or rooms with another, especially in a dormitory at a college or prep school.

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Chum is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
to run away hurriedly; flee.
to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.
LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Origin:
1675–85; of uncertain origin
Example Sentences
  • Resident orcas, researchers found, eat chinook and chum salmon.
  • They hold their wings out, drop their feet into the water, and pick up pieces of the chum we've put out.
  • But you'll also catch guys fishing in the grey-green lake, using this morning's sausages for chum.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

chum

2   [chuhm] noun, verb, chummed, chum·ming.
noun
1.
cut or ground bait dumped into the water to attract fish to the area where one is fishing.
2.
fish refuse or scraps discarded by a cannery.
verb (used without object)
3.
to fish by attracting fish by dumping cut or ground bait into the water.
verb (used with object)
4.
to dump chum into (a body of water) so as to attract fish.
5.
to lure (fish) with chum: They chummed the fish with hamburger.
Origin:
1855–60, Americanism; of uncertain origin

chum

3   [chuhm]
noun
chum salmon.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To chum
Collins
World English Dictionary
chum1 (tʃʌm)
 
—n
1.  informal a close friend
 
—vb (usually foll by up with) , chums, chumming, chummed
2.  to be or become an intimate friend (of)
3.  (Scot) (tr) to accompany: I'll chum you home
 
[C17 (meaning: a person sharing rooms with another): probably shortened from chamber fellow, originally student slang (Oxford); compare crony]

chum2 (tʃʌm)
 
—n
chiefly (US), (Canadian) angling chopped fish, meal, etc, used as groundbait
 
[C19: origin uncertain]

chum3 (tʃʊm)
 
—n
a Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus keta
 
[from Chinook Jargon tsum spots, marks, from Chinook]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

chum
"friend," 1684, university slang, alt. spelling of cham, short for chamber(mate), typical of the late-17c. fondness for clipped words.
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chum
"fish bait," 1857, perhaps from Scot. chum "food."
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

chum definition


  1. n.
    a pal; a good friend. : We've been chums for years. Went to college together.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
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