Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a rejection; usu. as get... or give... ; note one-off punning var. in cit. 1919.

1901		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 126: Four more players get the ‘rush’.
1910		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 21: She and I were sitting there making love see [...] when suddenly she goes plumb nutty, wallops my noodle and gives me the bum’s rush.
1919		H.C. Witwer Smile A Minute 307: One day a guy is runnin’ for President of Russia and the next he’s runnin’ for his life, and if he does get elected he gets the bum’s russia before he can even say I thank you.
1920		A. Baer Two & Three 2 Feb. [synd. col.] Dongle, who was given the bum’s rush at Wimple college, will matriculate at Penn.
1929		M. Bodenheim Sixty Seconds 236: Girls that act a little ladylike. A little’s enough to get the bum’s rush in that joint.
1935		E. Freeman ‘The Whirling Hub’ in Afro-American (Baltimore, MD) 6 Apr. 15/1: Johnny Wyche gave two sepia lads the bum’s ruish, because they were with two ofay girls.
1949		W. Pegler 28 Dec. [synd. col.] Those not in sympathy with the strike got the bum’s rush [W&F].
1960		(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 20: Bum’s rush – dismissed; ignored.
1971		Wodehouse Much Obliged, Jeeves 84: He thinks Florence will give him the bum’s rush if he loses.
1978		L. Kramer Faggots 309: Who had always given him the knowing eye in Stephen’s office. But to whom he’d always given the bum’s rush.
1998		P. Doyle (con. late 1950s) Amaze Your Friends (2019) 46: ‘I’m worried that he’ll give me the bum’s rush’.
2020		A. Parks Bobby March Will Live Forever 25: ‘He still giving you the bum’s rush, is he?’ ‘Yep. Not allowed anywhere near anything’.
2021		C. Hammer Opal Country 327: ‘Thought they’d given him the bum’s rush’.

2. forcible movement.

1916		J. Lait ‘Omaha Slim’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 115: The coppers has been officed not to give us the rush.
1927		(con. 1917) J. Stevens Mattock 131: I had to go crazy mad and start a bum’s rush on the pore devil. I’m a fool to drink hard.
1978		R. Caron Go-Boy! 21: Two minutes after the morning light came on a guy was out of bed or he got the bum’s rush to the cooler.

3. (also fool’s rush) forcible ejection, esp. from a bar or club; esp. as get or give the (bum’s) rush.

1911		Dakota Farmers’ Leader (Canton, SD) 6 Oct. 15/6: The court attendants rushed to give him the bum’s rush.
1920		H.C. Witwer Kid Scanlon 362: I [...] gave him the bum’s rush out of the room.
1925		G.H. Mullin Adventures of a Scholar Tramp 140: This function Louie referred to with great relish as ‘givin’ ’em the bum’s rush’.
1929		W.R. Burnett Little Caesar (1932) 233: I been in Hammond ever since you gave us the rush.
1931		R.E. Howard ‘Sign of the Snake’ Action Stories June 🌐 Throw him out! Beat him up! Give him the bum’s rush! Out with him, John!
1938		F.D. Sharpe Sharpe of the Flying Squad 211: Night club customers don’t often require the bums’ rush.
1949		Wodehouse Mating Season 36: Gussie will get the bum’s rush.
1958		E. Dundy Dud Avocado (1960) 173: ‘Where does he come off giving me the bum’s rush?’ he steamed.
1965		L. Dunne Goodbye to The Hill (1966) 177: It’s bound to be so lousy that even an eejit like her will give you the bum’s rush.
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 130: All they did was to give me the bum’s rush out of the courtroom.
1977		(con. 1960s) D. Goines Black Gangster (1991) 165: I hope you don’t give me the fool’s rush when I get ready to leave.
1978		R. Caron Go-Boy! 215: I gave him the bum’s rush up the stairs and out of the apartment.
1985		B. Humphries Traveller’s Tool 80: I reckon if you went into one of these joints and asked for a beer and T-bone, they’d give you the bum’s rush.
1993		(con. 1945) S. McAughtry Touch and Go 51: When you [...] couldn’t drink any more, Mulgrew gave you the bum’s rush.
2002		D.H. Sterry Chicken (2003) 174: Kristy’s folks are gonna take one look at me and give me the bum’s rush.
2007		S. Maloney Sucked In 84: He got the bum’s rush from the union.
2013		J. Stahl Bad Sex on Speed 138: What is life in the end? A bum’s rush face-first into a spinning airplane propellor.
2017		A. Parks Bloody January 209: There was a more than even chance he was going to get the bum’s rush.

4. a military defeat.

1947

D. Davin For the Rest of Our Lives 113: I suppose that was 6 Brigade getting the bum’s rush off Sidi Rizegh, boss?