hum

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“
The same Law escaped from Newgate prison on the night of'--hum--well--well--'May be known by this description: Is tall, of dark complexion, spare of build, raw-boned, face hath deep pock-marks.

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Definitions (36)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. intransitive verb To emit a continuous low droning sound like that of the speech sound (m) when prolonged.
  2. intransitive verb To emit the continuous droning sound of a bee on the wing; buzz.
  3. intransitive verb To give forth a low continuous drone blended of many sounds: The avenue hummed with traffic.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (15)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (7)

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Examples (50)

  • Even on the bridge the hum was audible as the massive chunk of metal began to spin. —  Cascade Point
  • You learn that to hum is to ask for that ready hard hand, to whistle a note is to be thrown out into the cold night and to cower there until daylight without a crust to eat. —  The Cosmic Rape
  • Eventually I came to the theater, and near it the market area where at last the hum was all I had expected in one of the great cities of the Emporia. —  Two For The Lions
  • For 10 years or so we have known about Earth's quiet "vertical" hum which is probably caused by the steady thumping of deep waves on the ocean floor. —  New Scientist - Online News
  • I've just gone back to read the rest of his blog entries. * ho-hum* —  Mobility Site
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This word has been looked up 157 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

buzz ·  murmur ·  rumble ·  roar ·  whine ·  hiss ·  noise ·  rattle ·  drone ·  crackle ·  rustle ·  whistle

Used in the same contextWord Family

hum:   humming ·  hummed ·  hums
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English hummen, of imitative origin.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English hummen, hum, = Middle High German G. hummen, hum (cf. Old Dutch hummen, hemmen, mutter, hum (def. 2), hem, Dutch hemmen, cry hem after); freq. humble, q. v.; orig. imitative, like Middle English bummen, English bum and boom, bumble, hum, buzz, Middle High German G. summen = Danish summe, buzz, Spanish zumbar, hum, resound, Portuguese zumbir, buzz.
  2. from hum, v.
  3. Another form of hem, h'm, interj., q. v. see hum, n., especially in sense 1 (c). Cf. Low German hum, humme, an interjection of forbidding or directing; French hum, hum, a coughing accent or voice.
  4. Orig. dial.; apparently a particular use of hum, v., I., 2, II., 2; cf. Spanish zumbar, joke, jest, make oneself merry, Portuguese zombar, joke, jest, a particular use of Spanish zumbar, Portuguese zumbir, hum, buzz: see hum. Cf. humbug.
 

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