Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Sense: 1
Date: 1600-1700
Origin: Probably from chamber-fellow 'someone sharing a room'
Sense: 2
Date: 1800-1900
Origin: Origin unknown

chum

 noun
     
chum
1 [countable] informal old-fashioned a good friend:
Freddie's an old school chum of mine.
2 [uncountable] small pieces of oily fish, used to catch other fish
WORD FOCUS: friend WORD FOCUS: friend
similar words: mate BrE informal, buddy AmE informal, pal informal, chum BrE informal, crony disapproving

➔ See also friend
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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