hum

verb

\ ˈhəm

hummed; humming

Definition of hum

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1a : 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

2a : 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

hum

Definition of hum (Entry 2 of 2)

chiefly British spelling of hem entry 3 , hem entry 4

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Examples of hum in a Sentence

Verb

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 on the Web: Verb

Out west, the defensive tackle factory at Washington hasn’t stopped humming. — Andy Staples, SI.com, "Like It or Not, College Football Is Influencing the NFL," 12 July 2018 Sentence after sentence hums like a line from an extended poem, with passages that seem to dance as vividly as Buddy’s kite. — Danny Heitman, WSJ, "An Ode to Holiday Companionship," 21 Dec. 2018 Overall, the place simply hums in a way that the Gigafactory still doesn’t. — Sean O'kane, The Verge, "Tesla will live and die by the Gigafactory," 30 Nov. 2018 Now, the distillery hums with activity seven days a week. — Bruce Schreiner, The Seattle Times, "Newcomers bring decaying Kentucky distillery back to life," 18 Sep. 2018 At the Wildlings Garden on a sunny afternoon in late May, bees hummed, birds called, and the air was heady with the fragrance of Canada-mayflower when Chris Jacobs, the executive director of the science center, showed us around. — Hattie Bernstein, BostonGlobe.com, "Cool down this summer in these magical gardens," 5 July 2018 Raffi hummed the Nautilus Pompilus song on the way home. — Michelle Weber, Longreads, "The Dangerous Beauty of Russian," 21 June 2018 There was a time, not so very long ago, when contented audiences at a musical left the theater humming the songs. — Joanne Kaufman, WSJ, "Before You Clap, Duck," 5 June 2018 Colorado has scored first in every game of the series, and even a team as good as Nashville has to show up on time at some point to put this series away, especially now that the Avs have Nathan MacKinnon humming after 2013’s No. — Eric Single, SI.com, "Stanley Cup Playoffs Roundup: Vegas Sweeps Kings, Moves on to Round 2," 18 Apr. 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.