mum

plural mums · alternative mam · alternative mom · alternative Mom · alternative Mum

1. AustraliaCanadaIndiaIrelandNew EnglandNew ZealandSingaporeSouth AfricaUKinformalmother

   2011, Chyna, FAM: Rolling in a London Girl Gang, unnumbered page, He′s looking at my mum, at her swollen eyes, busted nose and bloodied lips. She′s mashed up something chronic, and the man who did this to her is my dad.

   4 more examples

   From the Marvel Mixmaster to the Miracle Microwave, every time a new-fangled gadget has lobbed into the Aussie kitchen, Aussie mums have changed their cooking styles accordingly.

   1987, Kerry Cue, Hang On To Your Horses Doovers, page 5

   'Ooh Mum, Auntie don′t allow smokin’ - Pat′s eyes were round with awe as Mum struck a match.

   1993, Hilda Hollingsworth, Places of Greater Safety, Zenobia Press edition, page 278

   Her mum says that she is deaf and only partially sighted, so I need to go and stand in front of her, so she can see the gift.

   2004, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen, Irene Dunlap, Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul 2, page 336

   “Mum! Mum!” he shouted out. The laughter stopped. Two bright, sparkling yellow eyes peeped from the hollow. Atop her head were the fluffy ear tufts that his mum was so proud of because they were fuller and lovelier than those of most Great Horned Owls. It was indeed his mum!

   2006, Kathryn Lasky, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Book 11: To Be a King, page 88

plural mums · alternative 'mum

1. USA chrysanthemum.

   I don't know whether that's true or whether New Yorkers are being enjoined from watering the mums in their window boxes or whatever, but I do know that there hasn't been one rain-delay in the whole tournament so far […].

   1996, David Foster Wallace, “Democracy and Commerce at the US Open”, in Both Flesh And Not, Penguin, published 2013, page 139

2. USA decoration traditionally made of chrysanthemums and ribbons, worn by girls at high school homecoming celebrations, marked with indicators such as the wearer's name, school, the year, and so on.

alternative archaic mumm

1. archaiccolloquialnot comparableSilent.

   The citizens are mum, and speak not a word.

   c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vii]

   1 more example

   [Vladimir Putin] has serious climate problems. And he has been mum on his willingness to do anything.

   2021 November 2, Jim Tankersley, Katie Rogers, Lisa Friedman, quoting Joe Biden, “With Methane and Forest Deals, Climate Summit Offers Hope After Gloomy Start”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

2. colloquialnot comparableSecret.

   “Come here, friend,” sternly from the doctor. “Now I give you the way inside if you’ll promise to keep it mum.”

   1922, Robert Welles Ritchie, Dust of the Desert, page 149

alternative archaic mumm

1. stop speaking!, stop talking!, hush!

   Mum, then, and no more.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

   1 more example

   Ahab has that that’s bloody on his mind. But, mum; he comes this way.

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 31, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 143

present singular third person mums · participle present mumming · participle past mummed · past mummed · alternative archaic mumm

1. To act in a pantomime or dumb show.
2. UKobsoleteslangtransitiveTo silence.

   "Well, Sal, you mum your dubber pretty generally, but when you do slacken your glib you may as well do it civilly."

   1857, Hidden Links; Or the Schoolfellows. A Tale, volume 2, page 233

alternative archaic mumm

1. obsoleteuncountableSilence.

   Entrust it under solemn Vows / Of Mum and Silence,[…]

   1677 (indicated as 1678), [Samuel Butler], “[The Third Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The Third and Last Part. […], London: […] Robert Horne, […], published 1679, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 277

1. uncountableA type of strong beer, originally made in Brunswick, Germany.

   The clamorous crowd is hushed with mugs of mum.

   1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC

plural mums

1. alternativedatedinformalAlternative spelling of ma'am.

   "A telegruff message, mum, for Mr. William," said the maid, looking at her mistress with eyes opened wide, as she handed the important bit of paper to her master.

   1865 May 15 – 1866 January 1, Anthony Trollope, “William Belton Does Not Go Out Hunting”, in The Belton Estate. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published December 1865 (indicated as 1866), →OCLC, pages 220–221

   3 more examples

   “Wy, mum,” said Mr. Weller, “I don’t think you’ll see a many sich, and that’s the truth. But if my son Samivel vould give me my vay, mum, and only dis-pense vith his—might I wenter to say the vurd?” / “What word Mr. Weller?” said the housekeeper, blushing slightly. / “Petticuts, mum,” returned that gentleman, laying his hand upon the garments of his grandson. “If my son Samivel, mum, vould only dis-pense vith these here, you’d see such a alteration in his appearance, as the imagination can’t depicter.”

   1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Eighth”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 130

   [H]e axed if wer stock o' coals was nearly done. I telled him it was, an' we was ill set to get more—but you know mum I didn't think o' him helping us—but howsever, he sent us a sack o' coals next day; […]

   1847 December, Acton Bell [pseudonym; Anne Brontë], “The Cottagers”, in Agnes Grey. […], London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC, page 176

   Then she took off the hank and looked me straight in the face, but very pleasant, and says: / “Come, now—what’s your real name? / “Wh-what, mum?” / “What’ your real name? Is it Bill, or Tom, or Bob?—or what is it?”

   1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XI, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 93

alternative mum

1. informalOne’s mother.

   I wish Mum and Dad didn't argue so much.

   Synonyms: Mom, Mommy, Mother, Mummy · Antonyms: Dad