HUMMING • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Humming

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/hˈəmɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Hum v. t.

1.

To sing with shut mouth; to murmur without articulation; to mumble; as, to hum a tune.

2.

To express satisfaction with by humming.

3.

To flatter by approving; to cajole; to impose on; to humbug. (Colloq. & Low)

Hum v. i. (past & past part. hummed; pres. part. humming)

1.

To make a low, prolonged sound, like that of a bee in flight; to drone; to murmur; to buzz; as, a top hums. "Still humming on, their drowsy course they keep."

2.

To make a nasal sound, like that of the letter m prolonged, without opening the mouth, or articulating; to mumble in monotonous undertone; to drone. "The cloudy messenger turns me his back, And hums."

3.

To make an inarticulate sound, like h'm, through the nose in the process of speaking, from embarrassment or a affectation; to hem.

4.

To express satisfaction by a humming noise. "Here the spectators hummed." Note: Formerly the habit of audiences was to express gratification by humming and displeasure by hissing.

5.

To have the sensation of a humming noise; as, my head hums, a pathological condition.

noun

Humming n. A sound like that made by bees; a low, murmuring sound; a hum.

Hummingale, lively or strong ale.

Humming-bird moth (Zool.), a hawk moth. See Hawk moth, under Hawk, the bird.

adjective

Humming adj. Emitting a murmuring sound; droning; murmuring; buzzing.

See images of 'Humming'

Etymology of 'Humming'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Humming" Quotes from Famous Books

... clear, strong line, sometimes quite wayward, but generally very direct, steering for the densest, most impenetrable places,—leading you over logs and through brush, alert and expectant, till, suddenly, she bursts up a few yards from you, and goes humming through the trees,—the complete triumph of endurance and vigor. Hardy native bird, may your tracks never be fewer, or your visits ...

— Winter Sunshine • John Burroughs

... of custom; and a coffee-dealer, in the open air, found occasional vent for his commodity, in spite of the cold water that dripped into the cups. The whole breadth of the street, between the Stone Bow and the bridge across the Witham, was thronged to overflowing, and humming with ...

— Our Old Home - A Series of English Sketches • Nathaniel Hawthorne

... lived here in security. I looked up at the blue sky above those white ruins, and had an idea that death hovered there like a hawk ready to pounce. Even as one of us (not I) spoke the thought, the signal came. It was a humming drone high up in ...

— Now It Can Be Told • Philip Gibbs

... brave Bawly was with his bean shooter! He made those mosquitoes dance around like humming birds, and they were very much frightened. Then Bawly took a rest and ate some more of his lunch, laying his bean shooter down on top of ...

— Bully and Bawly No-Tail • Howard R. Garis

... us through. Constantly we beheld scenes of the greatest interest. The August landscape smiled its best about us, we passed Dijon and many another old storied city famous in former wars, and now again humming with the military life with which they had been so many times familiar. The Mobiles came thronging to every depot from the vineyards and fields and the remoter villages. As yet they were usually in picturesque peasant attire, young ...

— The Last Leaf - Observations, during Seventy-Five Years, of Men and Events in America - and Europe • James Kendall Hosmer

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