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MURMURING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A complaint uttered in a low and indistinct tone
Synonyms:
grumble; grumbling; murmur; murmuring; mutter; muttering
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("murmuring" is a kind of...):
complaint (an expression of grievance or resentment)
Derivation:
murmur (make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
Synonyms:
murmur; murmuration; murmuring; mussitation; mutter; muttering
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("murmuring" is a kind of...):
sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)
Derivation:
murmur (speak softly or indistinctly)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Making a low continuous indistinct sound
Example:
susurrant voices
Synonyms:
murmuring; susurrant; whispering
Classified under:
Similar:
soft ((of sound) relatively low in volume)
III. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb murmur
Context examples:
Fearing to betray herself, she slipped away, murmuring something about needing more paper.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
He shook his head sadly, murmuring, “Too bad, too bad,” while the hunters burst into guffaws of laughter.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
He said, almost in the same words as formerly, that Ham was just the same, “wearing away his life with kiender no care nohow for 't; but never murmuring, and liked by all”.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Somewhat daunted by this reception, Jo hesitated on the threshold, murmuring in much embarrassment...
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
But when I got him into his bunk he again buried his face in his hands, covering his eyes, and as I turned to go I could hear him murmuring, “I am a sick man, a very sick man.”
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
What time Miss Mills sat looking at the moon, murmuring verses—and recalling, I suppose, the ancient days when she and earth had anything in common.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
In what could have been no less than an ecstasy, I left my post at the head of the companion-way and started along the deck, murmuring to myself those beautiful lines of Mrs. Browning:
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
He got Mr. Peggotty to sing, or rather to roar, When the stormy winds do blow, do blow, do blow; and he sang a sailor's song himself, so pathetically and beautifully, that I could have almost fancied that the real wind creeping sorrowfully round the house, and murmuring low through our unbroken silence, was there to listen.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The way in which I listened to all the incidents of the house that made themselves audible to me; the ringing of bells, the opening and shutting of doors, the murmuring of voices, the footsteps on the stairs; to any laughing, whistling, or singing, outside, which seemed more dismal than anything else to me in my solitude and disgrace—the uncertain pace of the hours, especially at night, when I would wake thinking it was morning, and find that the family were not yet gone to bed, and that all the length of night had yet to come—the depressed dreams and nightmares I had—the return of day, noon, afternoon, evening, when the boys played in the churchyard, and I watched them from a distance within the room, being ashamed to show myself at the window lest they should know I was a prisoner—the strange sensation of never hearing myself speak—the fleeting intervals of something like cheerfulness, which came with eating and drinking, and went away with it—the setting in of rain one evening, with a fresh smell, and its coming down faster and faster between me and the church, until it and gathering night seemed to quench me in gloom, and fear, and remorse—all this appears to have gone round and round for years instead of days, it is so vividly and strongly stamped on my remembrance.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
If she saw me out of the corner of her eyes she gave no hint of it—indeed, I was almost surprised into murmuring an apology for having disturbed her by coming in.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
