humming

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhʌmɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌmɪŋ

Etymology 1

From hum + -ing.

Verb

humming

1. present participle and gerund of hum

Adjective

humming (comparative more humming, superlative most humming)

1. Making a hum sound.
2. (archaic) Of ale or beer: very strong.
   • 1889, John Bickerdyke, The Curiosities of Ale & Beer: An Entertaining History, page 13:

     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.

3. (UK, slang) Very bad-smelling.

Derived terms

• humming October
• humming stone
• humming-top
• humming top

Etymology 2

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

Noun

humming (plural hummings)

1. The sound of something that hums; a hum.
   • 1969 December 8, New York Magazine, volume 2, number 49, page 70:

     There are some contemporary additions to these scattered fragments from Shakespeare. Mostly they are songs; sometimes they are various screechings and hummings […]

Derived terms

• hummingbird