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

Mia Moretti, who came out for the preview, could be seen humming with dedication into this mic. — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, "Designer Nili Lotan Hosts a Preview of the Exhibition “Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything”," 11 Apr. 2019 The 35-watt chip packs two cores and four threads humming along at 3.2GHz, with no turbo speeds listed, a configuration that should handle basic office and everyday computing tasks just fine. — Brad Chacos, PCWorld, "AMD's $55 Athlon 200GE brings Zen CPU cores and Radeon Vega graphics to the masses," 6 Sep. 2018 Production ceased on the old stills at the end of 2017, and the new stills have been humming away since. — Jake Emen, USA TODAY, "The Macallan debuts sensational new Scotch distillery," 23 May 2018 Its suburbs were rimmed with razor wire and humming electric fences. — Ryan Lenora Brown, The Christian Science Monitor, "For South Africa's students, college means promise – if they can get there," 23 Apr. 2018 That’s the question humming through corners of Silicon Valley in recent months as several giant tech companies have kicked the tires on the hot gaming chat company that investors valued earlier this year at $1.6 billion. — Theodore Schleifer, Recode, "Who could buy Discord? Acquirers have been giving the gaming startup a long look.," 21 Nov. 2018 There might be a wireframe animal lurking around, and a slow, steady bass line humming along quietly. — Andrew Webster, The Verge, "Tetris Effect is a glorious love letter to Tetris," 9 Nov. 2018 Ringing or humming in the ears are telltale signs that a workplace is too noisy, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. — Esther Fung, WSJ, "Why Are People Wearing Earplugs in Church? Hint: It’s Not the Sermon," 25 Jan. 2019 But the pull to migrate to America will remain as long as the economy is humming, which is why Congress should expand the legal pathways for immigration. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Trump’s Presidential Emergency," 10 Jan. 2019

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.