rum

¹

[ ruhm ]

noun

1. an alcoholic liquor or spirit distilled from molasses or some other fermented sugar-cane product.
2. alcoholic drink in general; intoxicating liquor:

   He warned against the demon rum.

rum

²

[ ruhm ]

adjective

, Chiefly British Informal.

1. odd, strange, or queer:

   a rum fellow.

2. problematic; difficult; bad:

   a rum situation.

rum

³

[ ruhm ]

noun

, Cards.

1. rummy ¹.

Rum

⁴

[ room ]

noun

1. Arabic name of Rome, once used to designate the Byzantine Empire.

Rum.

⁵

abbreviation for

1. Rumania. See Romania.
2. Rumanian. See Romanian. Also Rum

rum

¹

/ rʌm /

adjective

1. slang.
   strange; peculiar; odd

rum

²

/ rʌm /

noun

1. See rummy
   short for rummy 1

rum

³

/ rʌm /

noun

1. spirit made from sugar cane, either coloured brownish-red by the addition of caramel or by maturation in oak containers, or left white

Derived Forms

• ˈrumness, noun
• ˈrumly, adverb

Other Words From

• rumless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rum¹

First recorded in 1645–55; perhaps short for obsolete rumbullion, rumbustion, of obscure origin

Origin of rum²

First recorded in 1750–60; earlier rome, room “great,” of uncertain origin; perhaps from Romani; Rom

Origin of rum³

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75; by shortening

Word History and Origins

Origin of rum¹

C19: perhaps from Romany rom man

Origin of rum²

C17: perhaps shortened from C16 rumbullion , of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

On the night of his death, Martinez and another pledge were told to split a half-gallon bottle of rum, according to the filing.

From Washington Post

In 2019, with long straws in hand, friends and I sat around the table, giggling and slurping up the delicious shared rum concoction until we hit ceramic.

From Washington Post

At Rikki Tiki itself, embrace the tourism factor and order a Key Lime Pie—a mix of rum, ice cream, and fresh lime juice with a graham-cracker crust.

From Outside Online

If the cajeta turns out thicker than you wanted, add warm water, milk or rum, a little at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.

From Washington Post

If you want to add liquor, such as rum, or flavoring, do so during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

From Washington Post

Remove from heat and stir in the walnuts, rum, powdered sugar, and salt until fully incorporated.

From The Daily Beast

Heat the rum in a small skillet over medium until reduce by half.

From The Daily Beast

Make a batch of these rum balls, climb into a onesie, and let your favorite movie do the rest.

From The Daily Beast

Phonetic, made-up lyrics are another venerable tradition of folk music, and “pa-rum-pa-pa-pum” is iconic of the genre.

From The Daily Beast

Both impart the experience of sitting with brilliant Cubans over a rum to debate the State of Cuban Intellectual Life.

From The Daily Beast

The black sticks resembling lollipops are said to be compounds of rum, bullocks' blood and tobacco lees.

From Project Gutenberg

He was unhurt, but he moved with shuffling steps, much like a tavern-loafer soggy from rum.

From Project Gutenberg

Ive seen a lot of booze-fighters, and helped tuck some of them underground, but I never saw any rum hound just like this guy.

From Project Gutenberg

The men were in a panic and the captain sought courage in rum, and was soon too drunk to handle his ship.

From Project Gutenberg

Half a gill of rum to two of water was served out once a day to each man.

From Project Gutenberg