What does chumming mean?
"Chumming" is the present participle of the verb "chum," which carries two well-established senses. In everyday, informal use, it means keeping close company with someone — to be chumming around with a friend is simply to be spending friendly, companionable time together. The word's second sense belongs to angling: chumming is the practice of scattering a mixture of chopped bait, blood, and fish parts into the water to lure fish or sharks toward a boat or hook. This technique is widely used by sport fishermen, particularly for shark fishing, though it is regulated or banned in some areas because of concerns about conditioning sharks to associate humans with food. The noun "chum" itself likely arose from university slang meaning a roommate, later broadening to mean an intimate friend. Whether describing friendship on dry land or baiting the sea, "chumming" connotes closeness — either social warmth or the deliberate drawing-in of marine life.
To be friendly with and keep company with someone; to act as a companion.
"She was always chumming around with the older kids in the neighborhood."
Informal; frequently appears in the continuous form in the phrase "chum around with."
In fishing, to throw a bait mixture into the water to attract fish or sharks.
"The charter captain spent the morning chumming behind the boat to bring in mako sharks."
Standard terminology among anglers, especially in North America.
The same word that describes two best friends hanging out also describes tossing fish guts overboard to lure hungry sharks — English rarely gets this versatile.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chumming
The verb "chum" derives from the noun "chum," first recorded in late seventeenth-century England as Oxford University slang for a roommate sharing a set of rooms; its origin is uncertain, though it may relate to "chamber fellow." From there it widened to mean any intimate friend. The fishing sense developed separately in American English, from the noun "chum" denoting the bait mixture itself, whose origin is likewise obscure but possibly connected to earlier dialect words for odds and ends. Cognate forms include "chummy" (friendly) and "chumminess" (the quality of easy intimacy).
Related word forms
How chumming is actually used
Informal in its social sense, especially common in the phrase "chumming around with." The fishing sense is standard technical vocabulary among anglers and is common in American coastal usage. As a gerund, it can also function nominally: "chumming is prohibited in some waters."
Easily confused with chumming
"Champing" means biting or grinding with the teeth (as in "champing at the bit"), while "chumming" means being sociable with someone or scattering fish bait.