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Hum
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of hmm: a noise indicating thought, consideration, &c.
"Hum! hum! What's all this?"
- 2 Synonym of um: a noise indicating doubt, uncertainty, &c.
"Ah, now this is why we must proceed with great circumspection. They were both, hum, “put out” themselves."
- 1 A town in the central part of Istria, northwest Croatia, 7 km from Roč.
- 1 A hummed tune, i.e. created orally with lips closed.
- 2 Synonym of see hum (“blood cockles, ark clams”). Malaysia, Singapore, informal, uncountable
- 3 Initialism of highly unusual method: any of a class of contract bridge bidding systems that require advance preparation to contend with, and are usually restricted to the highest levels of tournament play. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 4 a humming noise wordnet
- 5 An often indistinct sound resembling human humming.
"They could hear a hum coming from the kitchen, and found the dishwasher on."
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- 6 the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity wordnet
- 7 Busy activity, like the buzz of a beehive.
- 8 Unpleasant odour. UK, slang
- 9 An imposition or hoax; humbug. dated
- 10 A kind of strong drink. obsolete
"you do provide me hum enough , And lour to bouse with"
- 11 A phenomenon, or collection of phenomena, involving widespread reports of a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning noise not audible to all people.
"There is a range of theories from farm or factory machinery to conspiracy theories such as flying saucers. And yet, "the hum" remains an unsolved case."
- 1 To make a sound from the vocal cords without pronouncing any real words, with one's lips closed. intransitive
"We are humming happily along with the music."
- 2 sing with closed lips wordnet
- 3 To express by humming. transitive
"to hum a tune"
- 4 make a low continuous sound wordnet
- 5 To drone like certain insects naturally do in motion, or sounding similarly. intransitive
"The leaves of the foreſt were loaded with manna, pure amber dropped from every bough, honey diſtilled from the rifted rock, and the humming bee, drunk with joy, ſtrayed from flower to flower, forgetful of his burſting cells."
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- 6 sound with a monotonous hum wordnet
- 7 To buzz, be busily active like a beehive intransitive
"The streets were humming with activity."
- 8 be noisy with activity wordnet
- 9 To produce low sounds which blend continuously intransitive
- 10 To reek, smell bad. British, slang
"This room really hums — have you ever tried spring cleaning, mate?"
- 11 To flatter by approving; to cajole; to deceive or impose upon; to humbug. UK, dated, slang, transitive
Etymology
From Middle English hummen (“to hum, buzz, drone, make a murmuring sound to cover embarrassment”); akin to Dutch hommelen (“to bumble, buzz”), dialectal Dutch hommen (“to buzz, hum”), Middle High German hummen (“to hum”), probably ultimately of imitative origin.
From Middle English hummen (“to hum, buzz, drone, make a murmuring sound to cover embarrassment”); akin to Dutch hommelen (“to bumble, buzz”), dialectal Dutch hommen (“to buzz, hum”), Middle High German hummen (“to hum”), probably ultimately of imitative origin.
From Middle English hummen (“to hum, buzz, drone, make a murmuring sound to cover embarrassment”); akin to Dutch hommelen (“to bumble, buzz”), dialectal Dutch hommen (“to buzz, hum”), Middle High German hummen (“to hum”), probably ultimately of imitative origin.
Borrowed from Hokkien 蚶 (ham).
From German Cholm, from Italian Colmo.
See also for "hum"
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