Word
rum
US/ˈɹəm/
UK/ɹˈʌm/
Definitions
01alcoholic drink
n. a strong alcoholic drink made from sugarcane or molasses.
n. a distilled spirit produced from sugarcane byproducts, such as molasses or honey, or directly from sugarcane juice.
“The sailor ordered a glass of dark rum at the bar.”
“The distillery specialises in aged rums, using charred oak barrels to impart a complex smoky flavour to the spirit.”
03strange or odd
adj. strange, unusual, or slightly suspicious.
adj. peculiar, odd, or queer in nature. This sense is primarily British and increasingly rare in modern speech.
“It was a rum start to the day when the car wouldn't start and the cat went missing.”
“He had a rum look about him, as if he were hiding a secret that he wasn't quite ready to share with the rest of the group.”
British English · Informal
Teaching tip
This usage is quite dated; learners will mostly encounter it in older British literature or films.
Real-World Examples
“It was not a formidable man-of-war but a large workhorse that spent summers at the Grand Banks and winters hauling rum and sugar from the Caribbean.” “Scientists at a university in Barbados, for example, developed a way to produce biofuel from a combination of the excessive sargassum on the island’s shores and wastewater from the local rum industry.” “As for the jug’s contents, the bottle held luxury mineral water , not rum.” Domain
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englishreference.com/q/rum