Library / English Dictionary

HUM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: hummed    , humming   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A humming noise

Example:

the hum of distant traffic

Synonyms:

hum; humming

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("hum" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Derivation:

hum (make a low continuous sound)

hum (sound with a monotonous hum)

hum (be noisy with activity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An Islamic fundamentalist group in Pakistan that fought the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s; now operates as a terrorist organization primarily in Kashmir and seeks Kashmir's accession by Pakistan

Synonyms:

Al Faran; Harkat-ul-Mujahidin; Harkat ul-Ansar; Harkat ul-Mujahedeen; HUA; HUM; Movement of Holy Warriors

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Instance hypernyms:

foreign terrorist organization; FTO; terrorist group; terrorist organization (a political movement that uses terror as a weapon to achieve its goals)

Domain category:

act of terrorism; terrorism; terrorist act (the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear)

Domain region:

Islamic Republic of Pakistan; Pakistan; West Pakistan (a Muslim republic that occupies the heartland of ancient south Asian civilization in the Indus River valley; formerly part of India; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity

Example:

there is a constant hum of military preparation

Synonyms:

busyness; hum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("hum" is a kind of...):

action; activeness; activity (the state of being active)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sing with closed lips

Example:

She hummed a melody

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "hum" is one way to...):

sing (produce tones with the voice)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue hum

They will hum the duet

Derivation:

hummer (a singer who produces a tune without opening the lips or forming words)

humming (the act of singing with closed lips)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a low continuous sound

Example:

The refrigerator is humming

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "hum" is one way to...):

make noise; noise; resound (emit a noise)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

hum; humming (a humming noise)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Sound with a monotonous hum

Synonyms:

hum; thrum

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "hum" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

hum (a humming noise)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be noisy with activity

Example:

This office is buzzing with activity

Synonyms:

buzz; hum; seethe

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "hum" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hum"):

pullulate; swarm; teem (be teeming, be abuzz)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

Cars hum in the streets

The streets hum with cars

Derivation:

hum; humming (a humming noise)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Hum! said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity, my theory certainly presents some difficulties.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

One cut with my sea-gully and the HISPANIOLA would go humming down the tide.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Without appearing to hear her, he walked to the window, fidgeted about, hummed a tune, and seemed wholly self-occupied.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

"Hearing the natural hum of the arches gives them a 'voice' where, in effect, they convey their state of health and their responses to all manner of forces."

(Song of the red rock arches, National Science Foundation)

I tell you your party is rotten and filled with grafters, and instead of flying into a rage you hum and haw and admit there is a great deal in what I say.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The air was calm, full of the eternal hum of insects, a tropical chorus of many octaves, from the deep drone of the bee to the high, keen pipe of the mosquito.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His senses, accustomed to the hum and bustle of the camp, used to the continuous impact of sights and sounds, were now left idle.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

London hummed solemnly all around; but nearer at hand, the stillness was only broken by the sounds of a footfall moving to and fro along the cabinet floor.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

When it was over, and Mugridge was back in the galley, he became greasily radiant, and went about his work, humming coster songs in a nerve-racking and discordant falsetto.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The occasion was this: the kingdom is much pestered with flies in summer; and these odious insects, each of them as big as a Dunstable lark, hardly gave me any rest while I sat at dinner, with their continual humming and buzzing about mine ears.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)