The Collaborative International Dictionary
Rump \Rump\, n. [OE. rumpe; akin to D. romp trunk, body, LG. rump, G. rumpf, Dan. rumpe rump, Icel. rumpr, Sw. rumpa rump, tail.]
The end of the backbone of an animal, with the parts adjacent; the buttock or buttocks.
Among butchers, the piece of beef between the sirloin and the aitchbone piece. See Illust. of Beef.
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Fig.: The hind or tail end; a fag-end; a remnant.
Rump Parliament, or The Rump (Eng. Hist.), the remnant of the Long Parliament after the expulsion by Cromwell in 1648 of those who opposed his purposes. It was dissolved by Cromwell in 1653, but twice revived for brief sessions, ending finally in 1659.
The Rump abolished the House of Lords, the army abolished the Rump, and by this army of saints Cromwell governed.
--Swift.Rump steak, a beefsteak from the rump.
--Goldsmith.
Usage examples of "the rump".
So the bullet aimed at him with his next step out of the shade missed the small of his back by a whisker to hum on up Central Avenue until it thunked into the rump of a tethered cow pony and caused considerable excitement out front of that one saloon.
Joanne was envying the exhausted Louise when suddenly the Comtesse slapped her across the rump amid the final bleats from the platform.
He whacked me on the rump with the flat of the blade and I scrambled up cursing.
As the rump-shot pony neighed and bucked loose up yonder, Longarm threw his package over a watering trough and followed it headfirst to land on one shoulder and roll across the plank walk behind a rain barrel as, sure enough, a second bullet thunked into said barrel and Longarm pegged a shot of his own at a haze of gunsmoke drifting up from behind the false front of a shop across the avenue.
That was good enough for me so I hurried after him, Shiv helping me with a boost to the rump that would have earned anyone else a slap in the face.
Without consulting his son, the old man bit each coin and, approving of their taste, gave Druhallen a swat on the rump and a warning to obey his new master.
Itkovian saw the rump of a horse plunge down in front of him, saw the soldier's right leg, foot still in the stirrup, falling outward.
Without comprehension, he watched the rump - legs kicking spasmodically - twist round, revealing that the front half of the horse was gone.
Kahlan threw her leg over the rump of Cara's horse, sheathed her sword, and then held tight to Cara's waist as the Mord-Sith pulled her horse's head hard to the left, forcing it, at a full gallop, to turn away just in time.
The waist of the country, also feminine and narrow, went from the rump—.
They were big reddish-brown beasts like scaled-up deer, with a pale yellowish patch on the rump and small white tails.
If she were his horse, he'd feed her an apple every once in a while and pat her on the rump.