What does "hump" mean?
A mound of earth.
Hump
/hʌmp/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A mound of earth.
- Grammar: hump is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: bulge, bump, protuberance, alp.
- Useful contrasts: abstain, advantage, depression.
- Usage evidence: A camel can store a large amount of water in the hump on its back.
How to use "hump"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hump" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hump" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hump" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hump" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "hump" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "bulge" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hump", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A mound of earth.
- 2 something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings wordnet
- 3 A speed bump or speed hump.
- 4 A deformity in humans caused by abnormal curvature of the upper spine.
- 5 A rounded fleshy mass, such as on a camel or zebu.
"Fat, melted down from the hump of the camel, is suggested in an Oriental manual as an aphrodisiac aid."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 An act of sexual intercourse. slang, vulgar
- 7 A bad mood. British, slang, with-definite-article
"She's got the hump with me."
- 8 A painfully boorish person. slang
"That guy is such a hump!"
- 9 A wave that forms in front of an operating hovercraft and impedes progress at low speeds.
Verb
- 1 To bend something into a hump. transitive
"The cattle were very uncomfortable, standing humped up in the bushes."
- 2 have sexual intercourse with wordnet
- 3 To carry (something), especially with some exertion. intransitive, transitive
"For travellers have to carry bags, / And swagmen have to hump their swags / Like bottle-ohs or ragmen."
- 4 round one's back by bending forward and drawing the shoulders forward wordnet
- 5 To rhythmically thrust the pelvis in a manner conducive to sexual intercourse.; To dry-hump. intransitive, transitive
"Stop humping the table, you sicko."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 To rhythmically thrust the pelvis in a manner conducive to sexual intercourse.; To have sex (with). intransitive, slang, transitive, vulgar
- 7 To exert oneself; to make an effort. US, dated, slang
"Lessons are keeping me humping now, and will probably do so all summer."
- 8 To vex or annoy. dated, slang
- 9 To shunt wagons / freight cars over the hump in a hump yard.
"In the first phase of the new yard's operation, from March 6 last, it was wisely decided to restrict the yard's use to allow for any "teething" ailments with complex electronic gadgets, so when I visited Margam early in May it was working well below its capacity, humping about 1,000 wagons a day; […]."
- 10 To botch or spoil. UK, obsolete, slang, transitive
""Why, sir," said one patterer, "I've gone out with a mate to work a litany, and he's humped it in no time." To 'hump,' in street parlance, is equivalent to 'botch,' in more genteel colloquialism."
Proper Noun
- 1 The Himalayas (a mountain range in Asia), as the challenge for the supply route between India and China. historical, slang
"The C-47s could not make it over the Hump with a full load and full tanks."
- 2 A diminutive of the male given names Humphrey or Humphry.
Antonyms
Example
"A camel can store a large amount of water in the hump on its back."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hump"?
Common synonyms include: bulge, bump, protuberance, alp, annoy, arch.
How do you use "hump" in a sentence?
A camel can store a large amount of water in the hump on its back.
How do you pronounce "hump"?
Pronounced /hʌmp/.
Etymology
Probably borrowed from Dutch homp (“hump, lump”) or Middle Low German hump (“heap, hill, stump”), from Old Saxon *hump (“hill, heap, thick piece”), from Proto-Germanic *humpaz (“hip, height”), from Proto-Indo-European *kumb- (“curved”). Compare Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb-, *ḱewb- (unnasalised root), and English hub (a softened variant without nasal?). Cognate with West Frisian hompe (“lump, chunk”), Icelandic huppur (“flank”), Welsh cwm (“a hollow”), Latin incumbō (“to lie down”), Albanian sumbull (“round button, bud”), Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “bowl”), Avestan 𐬑𐬎𐬨𐬠𐬀 (xumba, “pot”), Sanskrit कुम्ब (kúmba, “thick end of bone”). Replaced, and perhaps influenced by, Old English crump (“crooked, bent”). More at cramp.