Dormant, static, not moving or responding; idly, listlessly, or uselessly

Etymology:

  • It is noticing that the author of famous books such as “The adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The adventures of Tom Sawyer” Mark twain used this simile that is in this phrase in 1863. What is a bump on a log? It means an unmoving lump or chunk on wood. Today the expression “like a bump on a log” can be used to describe a lazy, stationary and unmoving person or a person who is not active in giving response.
36 Views

Jack just sat there like a bump on a log.

Submitted on July 07, 2010

Modified by TriplePurple on March 21, 2024

Translation

Find a translation for the like a bump on a log phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to like a bump on a log

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this like a bump on a log phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this like a bump on a log definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "like a bump on a log." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/like-a-bump-on-a-log_16034>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    A ____ dinner.
    A cat's
    B dog's
    C lion's
    D tiger's