hummed

verb

past tense of hum
1
as in buzzed
to be copiously supplied one restaurant was humming with diners, while a neighboring eatery was practically empty

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in zipped
to fly, turn, or move rapidly with a fluttering or vibratory sound a helicopter hummed overhead

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hummed Construction has hummed along at the store site, and the warehouse has started to take shape in recent weeks. — Nathan Pilling july 8, Kansas City Star, 8 July 2026 Experiments were running, discoveries being made, and conferences hummed with new ideas. — Florencia Canelli, Scientific American, 1 July 2026 Eye Patch rocked on the balls of his feet and hummed. — Will MacKin, New Yorker, 28 June 2026 On the exhibition floor at the annual international BIO conference in San Diego, biotech and startup executives hummed around pavilions representing member countries and states, pausing to watch World Cup games on a giant screen at a South Korean contract drug manufacturer’s booth. — Brittany Trang, STAT, 25 June 2026 As the market opened for business and hummed and hollered across the league Tuesday, the Canucks and their first-year management team remained on the sidelines. — Thomas Drance, New York Times, 24 June 2026 Five racks of computer servers hummed in a futuristic yet industrial-looking classroom at Atlanta Technical College, south of downtown. — Mirtha Donastorg, AJC.com, 26 May 2026 Others gathered in clusters of desks, showing their artwork to friends as lo-fi music hummed in the background. — Noah Alcala Bach, San Antonio Express-News, 22 Apr. 2026 Just outside the main entrance of Spectrum Center, as a saxophone blared and drums rumbled and fans hummed past each other with life, there stood Bradley Davis. — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 15 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hummed
  1. buzzed
  2. zipped
  3. burst
  4. whispered
  5. bulged
  6. whirred
Verb
  • In the 1970s and 80s, dirt bikes buzzed around its fragile landscape, creating erosion and noise.
    — Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 8 July 2026
  • Giovanna Mantilla was in a meeting in late April when her smartwatch buzzed with the kind of notification that usually makes a small-business owner smile.
    — Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2026
Definition of buzzed
Verb
  • This El Nino, which formed only last month, already zipped past the weak stage and is now considered moderate with no indications of slowing its strengthening, the government forecast said.
    — Seth Borenstein, Fortune, 9 July 2026
  • In the fourth minute, striker Kylian Mbappé just missed putting Les Bleus up early with a shot that zipped by the left post.
    — Jasmine Garsd, NPR, 9 July 2026
Definition of zipped
Verb
  • Reservoirs were breached or burst after Tropical Storm Maysak hit Guangxi, sending torrents of water into towns and cities.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 July 2026
  • As other reviewers have also noted, sound quality is superb on the GA lawn, which was full to bursting with blankets and rentable lawn chairs.
    — Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 7 July 2026
Definition of burst
Verb
  • Recalling a former boss who whispered intimate good-byes to his appliances when his restaurant closed, Luca says that the head chef didn’t receive similar farewells from his employees.
    — Jen Chaney, Vulture, 26 June 2026
  • The toys clanked, the players held their breath and onlookers whispered strategies on the sidelines – until a winner was crowned.
    — Chris Lau, CNN Money, 24 June 2026
Definition of whispered
Verb
  • That ball found the head of Jude Bellingham, whose diving header bulged the net and opened the scoring.
    — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
  • Her stomach bulged beneath her I ❤ FLORIDA boatneck and her face was round and waxy-pale.
    — Stephen King, The Atlantic, 15 May 2026
Definition of bulged
Verb
  • Luis was dressed in his hospital pyjamas; his pained breathing fogged his mask while the oxygen canister gurgled and whirred.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Mar. 2026
  • Traffic hummed along the avenue, and machinery whirred at the tire shop.
    — Thomas Lake, AJC.com, 12 Mar. 2026
Definition of whirred

Browse Nearby Words

humility
hummed
hummer
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hummed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hummed. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on hummed

Nglish: Translation of hummed for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fulcrum

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All