bumble puppy

English

Alternative forms

• bumble-puppy, bumblepuppy

Etymology

Of unknown origin.

Noun

bumble puppy (uncountable)

1. (now historical) A game in which players attempt to project metal balls into nine holes in a flat wooden board; nineholes. [from 18th c.]
2. (now rare) Any of various childish or informal games. [from 19th c.]
   • 1908, EM Forster, A Room With A View, Penguin, published 2018, page 104:

     Cecil was absent—one did not play bumble-puppy when he was there.

3. (card games) A simplified form of whist; whist or bridge played unskilfully. [from 19th c.]
   • 1947, W. Somerset Maugham, Creatures of Circumstance:

     Templeton isn't the sort of chap to play bumble-puppy bridge with a girl like that unless he's getting something out of it.

4. Swingball or tetherball. [from 19th c.]

Derived terms

• bumblepuppist

Further reading

• “bumble puppy”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “bumble puppy”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “bumble-puppy, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.