Definition of "chum up" in English

Verb

1. To be friendly toward (with or to) someone, especially in an ingratiating way; to form a friendship (with).

   • I chummed up with a few of my new work colleagues.

2. To initiate (a new prisoner) through a ritual involving beating him with sticks and swords, accompanied by music, to extort money from him.

3. To apply chum to water as bait.

4. To render a situation frenzied and confusing.

5. ↑ John Camden Hotten, A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words, London, 1859, p. 21.