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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

humming en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

Etymology

From hum + -ing.

Meanings

  1. Making a hum sound.
  2. (archaic) Of ale or beer: very strong.
    • But at night crowds of visitors called at his cot, / For he told a right marvellous tale; / Yet a stronger attraction by chance he had got, / A barrel of old humming ale. 1889, John Bickerdyke, The Curiosities of Ale & Beer: An Entertaining History, page 13:
  3. (UK, slang) Very bad-smelling.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
most humming Degree=Sup lexicographic
more humming Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Deriveds

humming October · humming stone · humming top · humming-top

humming en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

Etymology

From hum + -ing.

Meanings

  1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present) present participle and gerund of hum
    form of hum

humming en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

Etymology

From Middle English hummynge, equivalent to hum + -ing.

Meanings

  1. The sound of something that hums; a hum.
    • There are some contemporary additions to these scattered fragments from Shakespeare. Mostly they are songs; sometimes they are various screechings and hummings[…] 1969 December 8, New York Magazine, volume 2, number 49, page 70:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
hummings Number=Plur lexicographic

Antonyms

snapping

Deriveds

hummingbird

Hypernyms

sound

Hyponyms

purr · purring · girn · crooning

Synonyms

whizzing · droning · buzzing · thrum · drone · whizz · thrumming · whirr · hum · whirring · humming · buzz · bombination