Bully, a braggart; in the language of the streets, a man of the most degraded morals, who protects fallen females, and lives off their miserable earnings.—Shakspeare, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, uses the word in its old form, as a term of endearment. This epithet is often applied in a commendable sense among the vulgar; thus—a good fellow or a good horse will be termed “a BULLY fellow,” “a BULLY horse;” and “a BULLY woman” signifies a right, good motherly old soul. Among Americans, “BULLY for you,” is a commendatory phrase, and “that’s BULLY” is a highly eulogistic term.
Bullyrag, to abuse or scold vehemently; to swindle one out of money by intimidation and sheer abuse.
Bum, the part on which we sit.—Shakspeare. BUMBAGS, trousers; Gael. BUN, a base or bottom; Welsh, BON, the lowest or worst part of anything.
Bum-Bailiff, a sheriff’s-officer—a term, some say, derived from the proximity which this gentleman generally maintains to his victims. Blackstone says it is a corruption of “bound bailiff.” A BUM-BAILIFF was generally called “bummy.”
Bumble, to muffle. Bumble-footed, club-footed, or awkward in the gait.
Bumble, a beadle. Adopted from Dickens’s character in Oliver Twist. This and “BUMBLEDOM” are now common.
Bumble-Puppy, a game played in public-houses on a large stone, placed in a slanting direction, on the lower end of which holes are excavated, and numbered like the holes in a bagatelle-table. The player rolls a stone ball, or marble, from the higher end, and according to the number of the hole it falls into the game is counted. It is undoubtedly the very ancient game of Troule-in-madame.
Bumbles, coverings for the eyes of horses that shy in harness.
Bumbrusher, an usher at a school.
Bumclink, in the Midland counties the inferior beer brewed for haymakers and harvest labourers. Derivation obvious.