hum
/ˈhʌm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.59 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
noun
A phenomenon, or collection of phenomena, involving widespread reports of a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning noise not audible to all people.
verb
To make a sound from the vocal cords without pronouncing any real words, with one's lips closed.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "They could hear a hum coming from the kitchen and found the dishwasher on."
- "the shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums"
- "you do provide me hum enough , And lour to bouse with"
- "There is a range of theories from farm or factory machinery to conspiracy theories such as flying saucers. And yet, "the hum" remains an unsolved case."
- "We are humming happily along with the music."
- "to hum a tune"
Etymology
From Middle English hummen (“to hum, buzz, drone, make a murmuring sound to cover embarrassment”); akin to Dutch hommelen (“to bumble, buzz”), dialectal Dutch hommen (“to buzz, hum”), Middle High German hummen (“to hum”), probably ultimately of imitative origin.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: hummen, Cholm, Colmo