hum

verb \ ˈhəm \

|Updated on: 7 Aug 2018

Examples: hum in a Sentence

Definition of hum

hummed; humming

intransitive verb

1 a : to utter a sound like that of the speech sound \m\ prolonged

humming along with the music

b : to make the natural noise of an insect in motion or a similar sound : drone

listening to the bees hum in the garden

c : to give forth a low continuous blend of sound

the sound of children's voices with which the house was always humming
—J. M. Brinnin

2 a : to be busily active

the museum hummed with visitors

b : to run smoothly

the business started to hum

transitive verb

1 : to sing with the lips closed and without uttering speech sounds distinctly

hum a tune

2 : to express by making a vocal sound with the lips pressed together : to affect by humming

hummed his displeasure

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hum

noun

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hummable

play \ˈhə-mə-bəl\ adjective

See hum defined for English-language learners

See hum defined for kids

Examples of hum in a Sentence

The garden was humming with bees.
The refrigerator hummed in the background.
I was humming to myself.
We hummed along to the music.
I hummed a little song.
By noon, the office was really humming.
The restaurant hums on weekends.

Recent Examples of hum from the Web

As the four capitalists in Sarah Burgess’ play duke it out over whether morality has any place in high finance, Jennifer King’s flawless direction makes the minutiae of analysts’ numbers and contracts’ clauses hum with life.

— SFChronicle.com, "Theater capsule reviews and listings, week of July 15," 12 July 2018
Airports like Pittsburgh International and Memphis International that once hummed with passengers and built terminals to accommodate huge growth projections are now dealing with the new reality of empty gates and silent concourses.

— ely portillo, charlotteobserver, "Charlotte’s airport manages ‘tricky balance’ between low-cost hub and fancy new gates," 12 July 2018
The crowd is small, white and white-haired, but hums with competitive energy.

— claire mcneill, Bon Appetit, "Inside the National Pie Championships: Keep Calm and Carry Cool Whip," 13 Apr. 2018
This video series has been created to showcase some of the fantastic cars in metro Atlanta and the people who put in the time, sweat and money to keep the tires rolling and the engines humming.

— todd c. duncan, ajc, "Atlanta Classic Cars: 1966 Chevy Chevelle is a blast for South Fulton owner," 3 July 2018
All the while, Gomez hums an unidentifiable tune while American Horror Story-esque music plays in the background.

— dave quinn, PEOPLE.com, "Selena Gomez, Horror Movie Star? Watch Her Creepy Turn in Petra Collins' New Short Film," 21 June 2018
The great birds glide in their orbits, fan themselves, jeweled heads hummingin a stream of signals.

— david roderick, San Francisco Chronicle, "State Lines: California poetry: Lisa Rosenberg’s ‘The Satellite Sky’," 29 Mar. 2018
Its economy has been humming and its fiscal position is strong, with government debt down to 64.1% of GDP at the end of 2017.

— richard barley, WSJ, "Tariff Troubles for Germany Won’t Stay in Germany," 3 July 2018
Tetris is a sacred cow in the games industry, and only a few major titles have succeeded at iterating on its design; Lumines, which remembers the pleasure of humming the Tetris music and builds a whole game out of that joy, is probably the best.

— julie muncy, WIRED, "Lumines Remastered Is the Perfect Summer Gaming Treat," 3 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hum.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.