▪ I. rum, n.1
(rʌm)
Also 7 rumme, 7–8 rhum.
[Of obscure origin: perhaps an abbreviation of the longer forms rumbullion or rumbustion, which are found a little earlier. English is the source of Du. and G. rum, Da. and Sw. rum, rom, Russ. rum', rom'; F. rhum, rum, Sp. and Pg. ron, etc.]
1. a. A spirit distilled from various products of the sugar-cane (esp. molasses and dunder), and prepared chiefly in the West Indies and Guyana.
The name has also been improperly applied to spirits made in imitation of this from beet-roots or other materials.
| 1654 [see kill-devil n. 2]. 1661 Cal. State Papers Col. Ser. (1661–8) 42 That the former orders concerning rum, sugar, and hammocks be still in force. 1667 Warren Descr. Surinam vi. 17 Rum is a Spirit extracted from the Juice of Sugar-Canes, commonly, twice as strong as Brandy. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rum,..a West-Indian Drink stronger than Brandy, drawn from Dreggs of Sugar for the most part, yet sometimes from Fruits, and Rows of Fish. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 56, I found..three large Runlets of Rum or Spirits. 1776 A. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 220 Our New England rum is four shillings per gallon. 1819 Byron Juan ii. xxxiv, There's nought, no doubt, so much the spirit calms As rum and true religion. 1835 Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. xlv. 585 We had sold them no rum. 1890 Standard 21 Apr. 3/6 The stuff he calls Rum is not Rum at all. It consists of raw spirit expressed from the beetroot and other roots..mixed with a small quantity of genuine Rum. |
b. rum-and-water, a drink prepared from these ingredients. Also
Comb.| 1779 J. Woodforde Diary 12 Aug. (1924) I. 258 At the 3 Innes for some Rum and water pd. 0.0.3. 1836–7 Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xvi, A stout man, who had a glass of rum-and-water, warm,..at every place where we changed horses. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxiii, Sir Pitt..drank rum-and-water with the farmers at Mudbury. 1850 ― Pendennis viii, Rum-and-water-drinking gentlemen-farmers. |
c. N. Amer. Used generically as a hostile name for intoxicating liquors.
| 1800 Upper Canada Gaz. (York, Ontario) 5 Apr. 3/2 Many have labored to calumniate Rum, and render it unpopular, by dwelling on some of its supposed bad effects. 1851 Voice of Fugitive (Windsor, Ontario) 5 Nov. 2/5 Rum and Negro hate [are] the two great public evils of our time. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf-t. viii. (1859) 184 Rum I take to be the name which unwashed moralists apply alike to the product distilled from molasses and the noblest juices of the vineyard. 1918 W. A. Mackay By Trench & Trail 15 No one will rejoice more than Oscar Dhu to see the demon rum utterly destroyed in Canada ere many moons. 1933 E. O'Neill Ah, Wilderness! ii. 74 ‘Never marry a woman who drinks! Lips that touch liquor shall never touch yours!’.. Too bad! So fine a woman once—and now such a slave to rum! 1957 Prairie Overcomer (Three Hills, Alberta) Dec. 444/2 Of these two foes we cannot say whether Rome or rum is the greater adversary of the pure Gospel. |
2. attrib. and
Comb. a. Attrib., as
rum-bottle,
rum distillery,
rum-flavour,
rum-puncheon,
rum ration,
rum still,
rum-works;
rum-bathed,
rum-brave adjs.| 1897 G. B. Shaw Let. 13 May (1965) I. 762 His *rum bathed hair. |
| 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. vi. 36 Wo to him that gives his Neighbour drink; that puttest thy Bottle (thy *Rhum-Bottle) to him, and makest him drunken also. 1847 Thackeray Van. Fair (1848) xxxix. 359 The three tumblers and the empty rum-bottle. 1967 A. Lichine Encycl. Wines & Spirits 464/2, 7 francs..gave a customer the sugar-syrup bottle, the rum bottle, a tumbler, and left him to himself. |
| 1934 E. Hemingway in Cosmopolitan Apr. 119/2, I know you haven't got any guts unless you've got rum... I want you *rum-brave. I don't want you useless. |
| 1774 N. Cresswell Jrnl. 4 Sept. (1925) 34 In the evening went with Mr. Perkins to see Mr. Kid's Plantation. The Sugar works and *Rum distilleries are very extensive. 1816 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. 2nd Ser. IV. 124 A rum distillery was established in 1738. 1968 Spirits (‘Know the Drink’ Ser.) 32/2 Sugar factories and rum distilleries are much larger and more efficient than they were. |
| 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 58/2 The spirit..has only a faint *rum flavour. |
| 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago I. 201 She'd sooner have you than that old *rum-puncheon Heale. |
| 1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. ii. 89 Their bivouacs..where a hot meal..and a *rum-ration awaited them. 1977 Amer. N. & Q. XV. 135/2 Temperance campaigns, reduced rum rations, more leave, recreational programs, recruitment of higher caliber personnel, all helped to reduce alcoholism. |
| 1914 F. C. Glass With Bible in Brazil iv. 45, I recalled the big *rum-still in the back-yard. 1968 Spirits (‘Know the Drink’ Ser.) 32/1 Rum stills are often fitted with ‘rectifiers’ which allow the least volatile elements to return to the pot. |
| 1825 Gentl. Mag. XCV. i. 214 The furnaces of the sugar and *rum works. |
b. Objective, as
rum-distiller,
rum-drinker,
rum-maker,
rum-seller;
rum-producing adj.| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 397 So sensible are the *rum distillers of the advantage of such a plan. |
| 1834 Tait's Mag. I. 412/2 Dr. Lang anticipates a moral regeneration from the *rum-drinkers being converted into wine-bibbers. |
| 1926 J. Masefield Odtaa i. 4 The northward provinces became sparsely inhabited by..sugar-growers, *rum-makers, and copper-miners. |
| 1876 Ham Rev. & Mercantile Vade-M. 569 Australia is recognized as a *rum-producing country. |
| 1781 J. Greenwood in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1910) V. 125 We..took in..seven passengers, who were sutlers or *rum-sellers to Gen. Washington's army. 1828 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 181 Guarding against its sliding quietly..into the possession of the rum-seller. 1900 Congress. Rec. 25 Jan. 1200/2 A rumseller is as bad as a polygamist. 1973 H. Robertson Grass Roots iv. 76 There seems to be no limit to the number of offences these licenced rumsellers can commit. |
c. Instrumental, as
rum-bred,
rum-crazed,
rum-smelling.
| 1866 Evening Star 19 Mar., He had better have been a dead man than have emitted from his mouth..such a rum-bred pestilence of breath. 1893 Arena April 637 The uneducated, rum-crazed negro. 1900 H. Lawson Over Sliprails 30 Danny..finally collapsed into a shapeless rum-smelling heap and slept once more. |
3. Special combs.:
rum baba: see
baba2;
rum baron, a magnate in illegal liquor traffic;
rum-bud (see
quots.);
rum butter, a hard sauce made from rum and butter;
rum chaser U.S., during the Prohibition era, a coast-guard speedboat for pursuing rum-runners;
rum-cherry U.S., the wild black cherry,
Padus serotina, or the tree bearing this fruit;
rum cocktail, a cocktail in which rum is the principal ingredient;
rum essence (see
quot.);
rum fleet U.S., during the Prohibition era, a ‘fleet’ of ships engaged in rum-running;
rum-hitting [
cf. hit v. 23 b]
vbl. n., excessive drinking of rum;
rum-hole (see
quots.);
rum-hound slang, (
a)
= rumpot; (
b) a prohibition agent (
U.S.);
rum-jar slang, a type of German trench-mortar shell;
rum jelly, a concentrated form of rum;
rum-joint U.S., formerly, a place where illicit liquor was sold;
rum-mill U.S., a tavern or liquor shop;
rum-nose (see
quot.);
rumpot N. Amer. slang, a habitual heavy drinker;
rum punch,
shrub,
toddy, beverages in which rum is the principal ingredient;
Rum Rebellion Austral. Hist., the rebellion against Governor William Bligh by officers of the New South Wales Corps (noted for trafficking in rum) in 1809;
Rum Row U.S. (see
quot. 1927);
rum-runner, (
a) one who smuggles or lands illicit liquor; (
b)
= rum ship;
rum-running [
run v. 45 c]
vbl. n., smuggling or landing prohibited liquor; also as
ppl. adj.;
rum ship, a ship engaged in rum-running;
rum shop U.S. and
Caribbean, a shop or tavern selling rum and other liquor; a saloon;
rum-sucker U.S., a hard drinker.
| 1923 Westm. Gaz. 4 Apr. 8/5 Reminiscences are inevitable in any gathering of *rum barons. 1975 H. White Raincoast Chron. (1976) 12/1 A few ‘rum barons’ could be apprehended in the United States. |
| 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer., *Rum-bud, a redness occasioned by the detestable practice of excessive drinking. Rum-buds usually appear first on the nose, and..extend over the face. 1873 Leland Egypt. Sk. Bk. 120 All European travellers accuse Cophts of being rare old toss-pots, steady drinkers, regular rum-buds. |
| 1889 A. B. Marshall Cookery Bk. ii. 38 *Rum Butter... Prepare as in foregoing recipe, using Liquid Sunshine rum instead of brandy. 1939 [see brandy-butter s.v. brandy n. 2]. 1967 ‘J. Munro’ Money that Money can't Buy i. 8 Shops that sold Lakeland jet, woollens and rum butter. 1972 Country Life 26 Oct. 1041/1 Butter was..taken to Wigton market..with a special delicacy called rum-butter. |
| 1924 Rudder Jan. 40 Congress will be asked to appropriate many millions of dollars for a fleet of *rum chasers. 1931 D. Runyon in Hearst's Internat. May 64/2 She is riding in a big foreign automobile the size of a rum-chaser. |
| 1829 A. H. Lincoln Familiar Lect. Bot. 301 Wild-cherry, *rum-cherry, cabinet cherry... In dense forests, it grows to a very great height. 1843 Knickerbocker XXI. 585 They had been feeding him upon that inebriating article of food, rum-cherries. 1908 N. L. Britton N. Amer. Trees 506 This well-known tree, also called the Black, Cabinet, or Rum cherry, is abundant in mixed forests and neglected clearings, from Nova Scotia..southward to Florida. 1949 Collingwood & Brush Knowing your Trees 256 They have a pleasant, slightly bitter taste and are sometimes used in a beverage called ‘cherry bounce’ hence the name ‘Rum Cherry’. |
| 1861 Harper's Mag. Jan. 150/2 Measures of the most vital importance are first introduced in *rum-cocktails, then steeped in whisky, after which they are engrossed in gin for a third reading. 1936 A. Thirkell August Folly vi. 181 Richard..had made and drunk two rum cocktails. 1976 J. van de Wetering Tumbleweed x. 93 The iced rum cocktail went down well. |
| 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 58/2 A fictitious rum, the flavour of which is due to ‘*rum essence’—a mixture of artificial ether, birch bark oil, and other substances. |
| 1923 Westm. Gaz. 4 Apr. 8/5 Off-shore is the *rum fleet. 1975 J. Gores Hammett xvi. 113 Dom brings in most of the real Canadian from the rum fleet these days. |
| 1910 J. Masefield Ballads & Poems 34 There's..Stabbing, of course, and *rum-hitting, Dirt, and drink, and stink, and crime. |
| 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 181 A place where spirituous liquors are sold and drank; a grog-shop. In the West, often called a Doggery or Dog-hole, and in New York a *Rum-hole. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 216 The State of New York alone, we believe, uses the term rum-holes for its smaller grog-shops. |
| 1918 L. E. Ruggles Navy Explained 120 *Rum Hound, a boozer, or a man who likes his oil. 1920 Ade Hand-Made Fables 5 Just as the western Sun was ducking behind the Hills, the amateur Rum-Hounds piled out. 1951 E. Paul Springtime in Paris xi. 192 What he resented was the insinuation that he was a chronic rumhound. |
| 1916 P. McGregor Let. 29 June in M. Moynihan Greater Love (1980) 21 A ‘*Rum Jar’, the largest Hun shell known on our front, can knock in yards of trenches. 1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 252 Rum-jar by rum-jar, borne joyously through the dark streets. 1964 Listener 17 Sept. 431/1 The Germans also stepped up their mortar fire on our frontline trenches—the fearful ‘rum jars’. |
| 1976 J. van de Wetering Tumbleweed x. 93 The rum comes from Jamaica, packed in drums, *rum jelly. We mix it with water in a little factory. |
| 1928 Sunday Express 24 June 8/4 One of our men started a row with one of these birds... They fought in a *rum-joint and everyone joined in. |
| 1853 Yankee Humour & Uncle Sam's Fun 87 Every *rum-mill, groggery and tippling-shop..is a trap set by the devil to catch those who are guilty of not having over three cents. 1867 [see deadfall 2 c]. 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 238/1 Charter the bar, charter the grocery, to (American), to buy all the liquor in a groggery or ‘rum-mill’ and give it away freely to all comers. |
| 1891 Sajour Ann. Univ. Med. Sci. 59 An aggravated case of acne rosacea (*rum-nose). |
| 1930 D. Runyon in Collier's 1 Feb. 12/1 All he sees..is this *rumpot ham. 1941 Sun (Baltimore) 17 Feb. 18/3 He admires good food and good whisky. ‘All cooks,’ he said, ‘I mean, all good cooks, is rumpots.’ 1966 T. H. Raddall Hangman's Beach iv. xxii. 345, I had him moved in there as soon as that rumpot of a doctor was off tae the toon. |
| 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 36/1 Plenty of small *Rum-Punch, well soured with Juice of Limon or Orange. 1824 John Bull I. 132 We understand that rum punch has lately become so great a favourite in high quarters. |
| 1855 W. Howitt Land, Labour & Gold ii. 118 From the date of this ‘*rum rebellion’, and the forcible deposition of poor Bligh..the system of political grants went on swimmingly. 1938 H. V. Evatt (title) Rum Rebellion. 1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. in Austral. & N.Z. i. 8 The opposition of the Corps to authority culminated in a rebellion (the ‘Rum Rebellion’) against Governor William Bligh. |
| 1923 Lit. Digest 26 May 52/2 Small consignments are carried from there down to the ‘*Rum Row’ of ships anchored beyond the three-mile limit of the Long Island and New Jersey shores. 1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 81 We all know..about..Rum Row (where the liquor ships gather outside the prohibited area). 1949 Irey & Slocum Tax Dodgers i. 26 There were three Rum Rows, one on each coast and a smaller one working in the Gulf of Mexico. |
| 1920 N.Y. Times 19 Sept. 6/1 The Detroit *rum runners have had a good deal of notoriety. 1925 H. L. Foster Trop. Tramp with Tourists 7 Is that a rum-runner? 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? xii. 291 We discovered one solitary light moving slowly along the horizon... It was a rum runner. 1980 Smithsonian Aug. 45 The match became known as ‘the rum-runners' paradise’ because so many Coast Guard patrol boats had to be diverted to control the spectator fleet. |
| 1924 Lit. Digest 31 May 38/1 *Rum-running in New York has received at least a temporary setback. 1926 Scribner's Mag. Aug. 166/2 Tully—an old friend of mine, in the rum-running game now—will get you over the line into Canada. 1930 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. 1 Feb. 7/5 Grey Ghost, one of the fastest rum-running craft on Lake Erie, has been sighted locked in the ice. 1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 65 With the things he'd done, the Marines in Nicaragua,..rumrunning in New Orleans, somehow he'd kinda forgotten that you stood a chance of dying too. |
| 1924 *Rum-ship [see hijacking vbl. n. and ppl. a.]. 1931 F. L. Allen Only Yesterday x. 245 Rum-ships rolling in the sea outside the twelve-mile limit. |
| 1738 W. Stephens Jrnl. 10 Apr. in Colonial Rec. Georgia (1906) IV. 122 Those private *Rum-Shops were become as common among the People, in Proportion, as Gin-Shops formerly at London. 1873 ‘Mark Twain’ Gilded Age xxxiii. 302 Industry and economy soon enabled him to start a low rum shop in a foul locality. 1953 S. M. Sadeek Windswept & Other Stories (1969) 17 Den e lead me in the rumshop. 1974 Sunday Advocate-News (Barbados) 24 Feb. 17/1 Well populated with rum shops and nightclubs and most recently a horse racing betting shop, the area has become the noisiest in the country. |
| 1808 Sporting Mag. XXX. 99, 38 gallons of *rum shrub. 1864 Tovey Brit. & For. Spirits 283 Rum Shrub should be made with the freshest lemon juice, and a portion of Seville orange juice, the finest Jamaica Rum, and sweets from good loaf sugar. |
| 1858 N.Y. Tribune 9 July, An acquired appetite as strong as that of a *rum-sucker. |
| 1820 Scott Monast. Introd. Ep., To keep company with ony bit English rider, that sups on toasted cheese, and a cheerer of *rum-toddy. |
▪ II. † rum, n.2 slang. Obs. [In senses 2 and 3 from rum a.2] 1. A poor country clergyman in Ireland.
| 1720 Swift Wks. (1841) II. 75/1 As if..it were fit..to give the civility of the hat or wall to any rusty rum in the street. 1729 ― Grand Question Deb. Wks. 1751 X. 124 No Company comes, But a Rabble of Tenants, and rusty dull Rums. |
2. Ellipt. for
rum customer.
| c 1803 C. K. Sharpe New Oxford Guide in Mem. (1888) I. 18 They were angry with rums, they were troubl'd with bores. a 1845 Barham Cousin Nicholas xxiii, Von [= one] of the hold boy's country rums. |
3. An old or unsaleable book.
| 1812 in Nichols Lit. Anec. 18th C. V. 471 note, The books, which booksellers call rums, appear to be very numerous... The French have bouquins for rums, and bouquiniste for the seller. |
▪ III. † rum, n.3 Obs.—1 (Meaning obscure.)
| 1640 Shirley St. Patrick for Ireland iv. i, There's to show I am a linguist, with a rum in the rhyme, consisting of two several languages. |
▪ IV. rum, n.4 U.S. Also
rhum.
[Origin uncertain.] A form of rummy (
rummy n.2).
| 1910 [see rummy n.2]. 1912 Official Rules of Card Games (U.S. Playing Card Co.) 15 Rum. (This is a combination of Conquian and Whiskey Poker.)..Objects of the Game.—To get rid of the cards dealt to the player by laying them out in triplets or fours, or in sequence and suit of three or more. 1913 Chicago Record-Herald 2 Mar. v. 6/1, I never found on one of them The kale I lose at rhum. 1921 M. C. Work Auction for Two or Three 79 The modern game of Rum resembles Conquian in many respects and was at first called ‘Coon Can’. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVI. 25/1 Among the most widely played Rummy games is 500 Rum,..and its variants including Michigan Rum. |
▪ V. rum, a.1 Cant. Now
rare or
Obs. (
rʌm)
Forms: 6, 8
rome, 7
room(e, 7–9
rum.
[One of the canting terms originating in the 16th cent.] 1. Good, fine, excellent; great.
The exact sense varies with the
n.; for a list of the commonest phrases, as
rum beck,
bob,
cull, etc. see the
Dict. Cant. Crew (
a 1700).
| 1567 Harman Caveat (1869) 84 Rome vyle, London. Ibid., Rome mort, the Quene. 1621 B. Jonson Gipsies Metam. (Rtldg.) 619/2 For the roome-morts, I know by their ports..They are of the sorts That love the true sports. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rum, gallant, Fine, Rich, best or excellent. Ibid., Bub, Drink. Rum-bub, very good Tip. Ibid. s.v. Joseph, A Rum Joseph, a good Cloak or Coat. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v. Chaunt, To throw off a rum chaunt, is to sing a good song. 1847 Simmond's Colonial Mag. July 409 Bricks..out here [Ceylon] signifies slap-up chaps, fast goers, trumps, rum spirits, crack hands. 1859 Slang Dict. 83 Rum Mizzlers, persons who are clever in making their escape, or getting out of a difficulty. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Rum-Gagger, a cheat who tells wonderful stories of his sufferings at sea to obtain money. |
2. rum bouse,
rum booze, etc., good liquor, wine.
| 1567 Harman Caveat (1869) 83 Rome bouse, wyne. Ibid. 86 This bouse is as benshyp as rome bouse. 1641 Brome Joviall Crew ii. Wks. 1873 III. 391 This Bowse is better then Rum-bowse. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iv. ix. 233 A goodly Rumbouze of Canary. 1834 Fraser's Mag. X. 224 The Duchess loves Nantz,..Tom Campbell rumbooze. |
b. Hence
rum-boozing (see
quot.).
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rum-boozing-Welts, bunches of Grapes. |
3. rum duke (see first
quot.).
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rum-duke, a jolly handsom Man. 1706 Farquhar Recruiting Officer ii. iii, You are a justice of peace, and you are a king, and I am a duke; and a rum duke, an't I? 1763 [see duke n. 3 b]. |
4. rum-pad, the highway; also
erron., a highwayman.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rum-pad, the Highway. 1707 J. Shirley Triumph of Wit (1724) 164 By the Rum-Pad Maundeth none, Like my Clapperdogeon. 1819 Moore Tom Crib's Mem. 76 The brandy and tea, rather thinnish, That Knights of the Rumpad so rurally sip. |
b. Hence
rum-padder (see
quot.); also
rum-pad vb., to attack or rob on the highway.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rum-padders, the better sort of Highway-men well Mounted and Armed. 1895 H. Watson in Chap-Book III. 484 To be rumpadded, there, almost within the precincts of London,..could not have been greatly to his taste. |
▪ VI. rum, a.2 slang. (
rʌm)
[perh. due to some special application of prec., such as rum cove, ‘a great rogue’. In common use from c 1800.] Odd, strange, queer. Also, bad, spurious.
| 1774 H. Kelly School for Wives iii. ix, Its a little rum tongue, that we understand among von another. 1777 Monthly Rev. LVI. 137 We have sometimes amused ourselves by dipping into honest Isaac Walton's Complete Angler, merely as a rum book. 1783 Session Paper Cent. Criminal Court Oct. 952 By God, this is a rum go. 1800 Ld. Melbourne Papers 7, I hope you will contrive..to rub off a few rum ideas which he contracted in these philosophical colleges. c 1803 G. Colman in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1973) III. 70 Dang me, but he's a rum customer! 1837 Dickens Pickw. xiv, There's rummer things than women in this world though, mind you. 1847 G. W. M. Reynolds Mysteries of London III. xxv. 71/2 Work the bulls and couters rum. 1850 Thackeray Pendennis xxxviii, This was the rummest go he ever saw. 1870 D. J. Kirwan Palace & Hovel xxxii. 483 ‘Ah! that's a rum customer,’ said the policeman; ‘she's fly to hevery⁓think.’ 1887 Fenn Master of Cerem. iv, Rum thing I should drift into being the Major's servant, isn't it? 1895 Wales July 323/2 What's rum is that he is one of the best 'uns in chapel. 1930 G. B. Shaw Apple Cart i. 3 Pamphilius. He must have been a rum old bird. Sempronius. Not rum enough to be noticed. There are millions like him. 1942 Gen 1 Sept. 13/1 Anything that is good in the navy is ‘scran’ and if it's bad it's ‘rum’. 1955 J. Thomas No Banners vii. 61 ‘This is a rum go,’ Alfred said. 1971 H. A. Smith View from Chivo xix. 192 A rum cove if ever I met up with one. 1977 J. I. M. Stewart Madonna of Astrolabe xi. 153 Some Scottish names are distinctly rum. Yours is. |
| Comb. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle (1862) 245 Like a charity school of a Sunday, led by a rum-looking beadle. 1955 Times 16 Aug. 10/5 That's a rum looking swallow. |
▪ VII. † rum, v. slang. Obs. [? from prec.] trans. To cheat.
| 1811 Spirit Publ. Jrnls. XV. 326 When I found out how he had rummed me, I thought it was but fair to dash him. |