Dictionary

humdinger en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /hʌmˈdɪŋ.ə(ɹ)/ (UK)
• /hʌmˈdɪŋ.ɚ/ (US)

Etymology

US origin, perhaps a blend of hummer (“something that moves fast”) + dinger (“something outstanding”). First attested in a newspaper article in the Daily Enterprise of June 4, 1883, at Livingston, Montana.

Meanings

1. (informal) Something that is particularly outstanding, unusual, or exceptional.
   • “—immense. I'm a real, slam-bang, honest-to-goodness, three-fisted humdinger. I'm a bona fide supraman.” “Superman?” Clevinger cried. “Superman?” “Supraman,” Yossarian corrected. 1961, Joseph Heller, Catch-22, London: Vintage Books, published 2010, →ISBN, page 22:
   • Most of the questions were pretty easy, but that last one was a humdinger.
   • “I’ve seen some humdingers, but never any ordinance like this,” said Mark Hayes, general counsel for the Arkansas Municipal League, an organization for towns and cities. 2011 July 19, Robbie Brown, “Arkansas Town Draws a Line on Clubs”, in New York Times:

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