bumpkin 
What a bumpkin he is fur a captain in the army! old 
Osborne thought. Thackeray, Vanity Fair. 
bumpkinly (bump'kin-li), a. [< bumpkin 2 + 
-/i/ 1 .] Of or pertaining to a bumpkin or clown ; 
clownish. 
He is a simple, blundering, and yet conceited fellow, 
who . . . gives an air of bumpkinly romance to all he tells. 
Richardson, Clarissa Harlowe. 
bumpsy(bump'si), (i. [E. dial. ; cf.bum^, drink.] 
Tipsy. [Prov. Eng.] 
bumptious (bump'shus), a. [A slang word, 
prob. < bnm]fi, strike against, + -tivus.~\ Offen- 
sively self-assertive ; liable to give or take of- 
fense; disposed to quarrel; domineering; for- 
ward; pushing. Thackeray. 
bumptiousness (bump'shus-nes), n. [< bump- 
tious + -ness.] The quality of being bump- 
tious. 
Tom, notwithstanding his bumptiousness, felt friends 
with him at once. T. Hughes, Tom Brown's School-Days. 
The peculiar bumptiousness of his [Hazlitt'sJ incapacity 
makes it particularly offensive. 
Loieell, Study Windows, p. 352. 
bumpy (bum'pi), a. [< bump 2 + -y^.J Having 
or marked by bumps ; having a surface marked 
by bumps or protuberances. 
bumrollt, A sort of bustle. [Vulgar.] 
I disbased myself, from my hood and my farthingal, to 
these bumrowls and your whalebone bodice. 
E. Jonson, Poetaster, ii. 1. 
bum- Wood (bum'wud), . Same as burn-wood. 
bun 1 , bunn (bun), n. [< ME. bunne, bonne, a 
cake, a small loaf. Origin obscure ; cf. Ir. bun- 
nog, a var. of bonnach, an oaten cake, = Gael. 
boimach, > E. bannock, q. v. Skeat refers to OF. 
dial, bugne, a kind-of fritter (a particular use of 
OF. bugne. bigne, a swelling caused by a blow: 
see6itiort), >dim. bugnct, bignet,mod.F. beignet, 
a fritter.] A slightly sweetened and flavored 
roll or biscuit ; a sweet kind of bread baked in 
small cakes, generally round Bath bun, a sort 
of light sweet roll, generally containing currants, etc., 
named from Bath, England. 
bun 2 (bun), n. [Appar. identical with E. dial. 
boon 2 , < ME. bone, also bunne, of uncertain 
origin, perhaps < Gael, bun, a stump, stock, 
root, a short, squat person or animal, = Ir. 
bun, stock, root, bottom, = Manx bun, a thick 
end, butt-end, = W. bum, a spear-head. The 
2d and 3d senses may be of diff. origin.] 1. A 
dry stalk; the dry stalk of hemp stripped of its 
rind. 2. The tail of a hare. 3. A rabbit. 
Also called bunny. [Prov. Eng.] 
bun 3 (bun), n. [Origin obscure.] A flat-bot- 
tomed boat square at both ends. [Canadian.] 
bunce (buns), interj. [Perhaps a corruption of 
L. bonus, good.] Extra profit; bonus: used as 
an exclamation by boys. The cry "Bunce!" 
when something is found by another gives the 
right to half of what is discovered. 
bunch 1 (bunch), . [Early mod. E. also some- 
times bounch; < ME. bundle, a hump, prob. < 
Icel. bunki = OSw. and Sw. dial, bunke = Norw. 
bunkc = Dan. bunke, a heap, pile : see bunk, of 
which bunch may be considered an assibilated 
form. Perhaps ult. connected with the verb 
bunch, strike: see bunch 2 .'] 1. A protuber- 
ance ; a hunch ; a knob or lump. [Now rare.] 
Gobba [It.], a bunch, a knob or crooke backe, a croope. 
Florio (1598). 
They will carry . . . their treasures upon the bunches 
of camels. Isa. xxx. 6. 
2. A cluster, collection, or tuft of things of the 
same kind connected in growth or joined to- 
gether mechanically: as, a bunch of grapes; a 
bunch of feathers on a hat. 
On his arme a bounch of keyes he bore. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. viii. 30. 
3. More generally, a cluster or aggregate of 
any kind: used specifically of ducks, in the 
sense of a small flock. 
They are a bunch of the most boisterous rascals 
Disorder ever made. 
Fletcher, Wit without Money, v. 2. 
After the bunch of ducks have been shot at, ... they fly 
a long distance and do not alight within sight. 
Sportsman's Gazetteer, p. 218. 
4. In mining, a small mass of ore. See bunchy, 
3, and pocket. 5. \nflax-manuf., three bundles 
or 180,000 yards of linen yarn. 6. A unit of 
tale for osiers, reeds, teazels, and the like, 
with no general or fixed sense Bunch of fives 
in pugttism, the flst with the five fingers clenched for 
striking : as, he gave him his bunch of tinea (that is struck 
him with his fist). [Slang.] 
bunch 1 (bunch), t. [< bunchl, ,] I. intrans. 
To swell out in a protuberance ; be protuberant 
or round. 
Bunching out into a large round knob at one end. 
Woodward, Fossils. 
720 
II. trans. To make a bunch or bunches of; 
bring together into a bunch or aggregate ; con- 
centrate: as, to bunch ballots for distribution; 
to bunch profits ; to bunch the hits in a game of 
base-ball. 
Cloistered among cool and bunched leaves. 
Keats, Endymion, i. 
bunch' 2 t (bunch), n. t. [< ME. bunchen, bonchen, 
beat, strike ; cf. D. bonken, beat, belabor, Dan. 
banke, Norw. banka, beat, Icel. banga, OSw. 
b&nga, bunga, strike: see bang 1 and bung 2 . 
See bunch 1 , n., and cf. bump 2 , which includes 
the meanings of bunch 1 and bunch 2 . Not re- 
lated to punch in this sense.] To beat; strike. 
Thei bonchen theire brestis with flstes. 
Lydgate. (llallimll.) 
I bunche, I beate, jepousse. He buncheth me and beateth 
me. Palsgrave. 
bunch-backedt (bunch'bakt), . Hunch-back- 
ed: as, "foul bunch-baek'd toad," Shal'., Rich. 
III., iv. 4. 
bunch-berry (buneh'ber // i), n. 1. A common 
name of the dwarf cornel, Cornus Canadensis, 
on account of its dense clusters of bright-red 
berries. 2. The fruit of the Rubus saxatilis. 
Halliwell. [Prov. Eng. (Craven).] 
bunch-flower (bunch'flou"6r), n. The Melan- 
thium Virginicum, a liliaceous plant of the 
United States, with grass-like leaves and a tall 
stem with a broad panicle of small greenish 
flowers. 
bunch-grass (bunch'gras), n. A name given 
to many different grasses of the Rocky Moun- 
tain region and westward, usually growing in 
distinct clumps. The more abundant are Poa tenui- 
folia, Oryzopsix cuspidata, Festuca scabrella, and species 
of Stipa and Agropymm. 
bunchiness (bun'chi-nes), n. [< bunchy + 
-ness.'] The state of being bunchy, or of grow- 
ing in bunches. 
bunch- whale (bunch'hwal), n. A whale of the 
genus Hegaptera; a humpback whale. 
bunchy (bun'chi), a. [< bunch + -y 1 .] 1. Hav- 
ing or being like a bunch or hunch; having 
knobs or protuberances: as, "an unshapen 
bunchy spear," Phaer, .<Eneid, ix. 
Chiefs particularly affect great length of cord, which 
does not improve the wearer's appearance, as it makes 
the kilt too bunchy. Pop. Sci. Mo., XXX. 206. 
said of a lode when the ore is irregularly dis- 
tributed through it in small masses or ' ' pockets." 
bunco, n. See bunko. 
buncombe, bunkum (bung'kum), n. [< Hun- 
combe, a county of North Carolina : see extract 
from Bartlett, below.] Empty talk; pointless 
speechmaking ; balderdash. 
When a crittur talks for talk's sake, jist to have a speech 
in the paper to send to home, and not for any other airthly 
puppus but electioneering, our folks call it bunkum. 
Haliburton. 
To talk for Buncombe, to speak for effect on persons 
at a distance, without regard to the audience present. 
The origin of the phrase, "talking for Buncombe," is 
thus related in Wheeler's "History of North Carolina": 
" Several years ago, in Congress, the member for this dis- 
trict arose to address the House, without any extraordi- 
nary powers, in manner or matter, to interest the audi- 
ence. Many members left the hall. Very naively he told 
those who remained that they might go too : he should 
speak for some time, but he was only ' talking for Bun- 
combe.'" Bartlett. 
bund (bund), n. [Anglo-Ind., also written band 
(pron. bund), repr. Hind, band, a dam, dike, 
causeway, embankment, a particular use of 
band, a band, bond, tie, imprisonment; in all 
uses also spelled bandit, < Skt. / bandh = E. 
bind, tie.] In India and the East generally, an 
embankment forming a promenade and car- 
riageway along a river-front or seaside; an 
esplanade. 
bunder 1 (bun'der), n. [E. Ind.] A surf-boat 
in use at Bombay and along the Malabar coast. 
Also called bunder-boat. 
bunder 2 (bun'der), . [Also written bhunder ; 
< Hind, bandar, also banar, a monkey, ape, 
Baboon.] The common rhesus or other East 
Indian monkey. 
bunder 3 (bun'der), n. [E. Ind.] A term used 
in the East for a canard, 
bunder-boat (bun'der-bot), . Same as bun- 
itorl. 
Bundesrath, Bundesrat (bon'des-rat), n. [G. ; 
< bunden, gen. of bund, a league (see bundle), 
+ rath, rat, council, counsel, etc., OHG. MHG. 
rat (= AS. raid, ME. rede, E. rede, read (obs.), 
council): see read 1 , .] 1. The federal coun- 
cil of the German empire, exercising legislative 
bung 
functions in combination with the Reichstag, 
and consisting of 58 members representing the 
26 states of the empire. In the Bmulesrath each 
state votes as a unit, the imperial chancellor being presi- 
dent. 
2. In Switzerland, the federal council, exercis- 
ing executive and administrative functions, and 
composed of 7 members. 
bundle (bun'dl), . [< ME. bundel (also dim. 
bundelet), < AS. "bi/ndel (not found) (= D. bondel, 
bundel = G. bundel), a bundle, dim. of "bund, 
ONorth. pi. bunda, a bundle (= D. bond, usu- 
ally verbond, a bond, covenant, league, = MLG. 
bunt, a band, a bundle, = MHG. bunt, G. bund, 
a bundle, truss, also a tie, bond, league, union, 
etc., > Dan. bundt = Sw. bunt, a bundle), < bin- 
dan (pp. bunden) = G. binden, etc., bind: see 
bind, and cf. ftowrf 1 .] 1. A number of things 
bound together ; anything bound or rolled into 
a convenient form for conveyance or handling; 
a package; a roll: as, a bundle of lace ; a bun- 
dle of hay. 
Every schoolboy can have recourse to the fable of the 
rods, which, when united in a bundle, no strength could 
bend. Goldsmith, Essays, ix. 
The optic nerve is a great bundle of telegraph wires, 
each carrying its own message undisturbed by the rest. 
W. K. Clifford, Lectures, I. 284. 
Hence 2. A group or a number of things hav- 
ing some common characteristic which leads to 
their being held and transferred in the same 
ownership. 3. In bot., a fascicular aggrega- 
tion of one or more elementary tissues travers- 
ing other tissues. The bundle may be either vascular 
(composed of vessels only) or nlirovascular (containing 
both fibrous and vascular tissues), and is usually sur- 
rounded by a layer of parenchyma, or soft cellular tissue, 
called the bundle-sheath. 
"Concentric" bundles occur in many vascular crypto- 
gams. Encyc. Brit., XII. 18. 
4. In paper-making, two reams of printing-pa- 
per or brown paper : established by a statute 
of George I. 5. In spinning, twenty hanks or 
6,000 yards of linen yarn. [Bundle is also used as a 
unit of weight for straw, and of tale for barrel-hoops, but 
without any fixed value. A bundle of bast ropes is ten, 
by a statute of Charles II.] Closed bundle, in bot., a 
flbrovascular bundle which is wholly formed of woody 
and bast tissue, without a cambium layer, and is there- 
fore incapable of further growth. Collateral bundle, 
in bot., a fibrovascular bundle consisting of a strand of 
woody tissue and another of bast, side by side. Con- 
centric bundle, in bot., a flbrovascular bundle in which 
the bast tissue surrounds the woody tissue, as is common 
in vascular cryptogams, or the reverse, 
bundle (bun'dl), v. ; pret. and pp. bundled, ppr. 
bundling. [< bundle, .] I. trans. 1. To tie 
or bind in a bundle or roll : often followed by 
up : as, to bundle up clothes. 
Their trains bundled up into a heap behind, and rustling 
at every motion. Goldsmith, Vicar, iv. 
2. To place or dispose of in a hurried, uncere- 
monious manner. 
They unmercifully bundled me and my gallant second 
into our own hackney-coach. 
T. Hook, Gilbert Gurney, II. iii. 
To bundle off, to send (a person) off in a hurry ; get rid 
of unceremoniously : as, the children were bundled off to 
bed. To bundle out, to expel summarily : as, I bundled 
him out of doors. 
You ought to be bundled out for not knowing how to 
behave. Dickens. 
II. intrans. 1. To depart in a hurry or un- 
ceremoniously: often with off. 
Is your ladyship's honour bundling of then 1 
Coltnan the Younger, Poor Gentleman, v. 3. 
See the savages bundle back into their canoes. 
St. Nicholas, XI. 377. 
2. In New England (in early times) and in 
Wales, to sleep in the same bed without un- 
dressing: applied to the custom of men and 
women, especially sweethearts, thus sleeping. 
Stopping occasionally in the villages to eat pumpkin 
pies, dance at country frolics, and bundle with the Yankee 
lasses. Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 295. 
bundle-pillar (bun'dl-pil"ar), . Same as clus- 
li-ri'd column (which see, under column). 
bundle-sheath (bun'dl-sheth), . See bundle, 
n., 3. 
bung 1 (bung),ro. [< ME. bunge, of uncertain 
origin; the W. bwng, an orifice, a bung (cf. 
OGael. buine Ir. buinne, a tap, spigot, spout), 
prob. from E. Cf. OD. bonne, MD. bondr (> F. 
bonde), a bung; MD. bommc 1 , D. bom 1 , dim. 
bommcl, a bung ; MD. bomme 2 , D. bom 2 , a drum ; 
MD. bunghe, bonghe = MLG. bunge, a drum 
(MLG. bungen, beat a drum: see bung-). The 
E. word seems to have taken the form of MD. 
IniHf/lie (with equiv. bomme 2 ), a drum, with tho 
sense of MD. bonde (with equiv. bomme 1 ), a 
bung.] 1. A large cork or stopper for closing 
the hole in the side of a cask through which it 
