Bumptious, adj. (colloquial).—Arrogrant; self-sufficient; on good terms with oneself. [Murray puts this down as a formation from bump on the model of 'fractious.' It is of recent introduction.]
1803. Mad. D'Arblay, Diary and Letters, vi., 324. No, my dearest Padre, bumptious! no, I deny the charge in toto. [m.]
1849. Dickens, D. Copperfield, ch. vi., p. 53 (C.D.). I heard that Mr. Sharp's wig didn't fit him, and that he needn't be so 'bounceable'—somebody else said 'bumptious'—about it, because his own red hair was very plainly to be seen behind.
1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. xiii. It was all very well while he was fresh, and having things pretty much as he liked. So long he was bumptious enough.
Bumptiousness, subs. (colloquial).—Self-assertiveness; arrogance; self-conceit. [From bumptious (q.v.) + ness.]
1865. Sala, Trip to Barbary, p. 150. Poor Albert Smith, than whom, with all his occasional bumptiousness, an honester and more clear-sighted hater of snobbery and shams never lived.
Bum Roll, subs. (old).—A pad or cushion worn by women to extend the dress at the back—an equivalent of the modern bustle or dress-improver. [From bum, the posteriors, + roll, in the sense of pad or cushion.] At one time these were called cork rumps, but for synonyms, see Bird-cage.
1601. Ben Jonson, The Poetaster, II., i. Nor you nor your house was so much as spoken of, before I disbased myself from my hood and my farthingal, to these bum-rowls, and your whale-bone bodice.
1663. Killigrew, Parson's Wedding, Old Plays, XI., 460. Those worthies [of a bawd] rais'd her from the flat petticoat and kercher, to the gorget and bum-roll.
Bumsquabbled, ppl. adj. (American).—Discomfitted; defeated; stupified. Cf., Bum-fiddled, in first quot.
1620. Fletcher, The Chances, I., v. And am I now bum-fiddled with a bastard?
1835-40. Haliburton, The Clock-*maker, p. 251 (ed. 1862). No sooner said than done, Mount Sheer Bullfrog gave the case in our favour in two twos, said Eyetaliano had got too much already, cut him off the other two-thirds, and made him pay all costs. If he didn't look bumsquabbled it's a pity.
Bum Sucker, subs. (general).—A sponger; toady; lick-spittle; hanger-on. [From bum + sucker, allusion obvious.] Cf., Bum. A French equivalent is une lèche-cul.
Bum Trap, subs. (old).—A bailiff. Cf., Bum-bailiff.
1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VII., ch. iii. The noble bum-trap, blind and deaf to every circumstance of distress, greatly rises above all the motives to humanity, and into the hands of the jailor resolves to deliver his miserable prey.
Bun, subs. (American).—1. A sponger; one who cannot be shaken off.
2. (common).—The female pudenda. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.
To take or yank the bun, verbal phr. (general).—To take first place; to obtain first honours. A variant of take the cake.—See Cake. The French say décrocher la timballe.
Bunce, Bunse or Bunt, subs. (old).—Originally money, a signification which it still retains; more generally, however, profit, gain, anything to the good. [Thought to be a corruption of
