as in purr
a monotonous sound like that of an insect in motion
we heard the hum of an outboard motor and a few minutes later the small craft came into sight
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hum
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2025
At first glance, Nam-Joon Cho’s lab at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University looks like your typical research facility—scientists toiling away, crowded workbenches, a hum of machinery in the background.
—Sandy Ong, JSTOR Daily, 11 Sep. 2025
Gina Pace, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
For decades, the profession has been stereotyped as a world of calculators and spreadsheets, quietly humming in the background of business.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hum
Noun
Ritual, cyclical movement hums in the cadences of McCraney’s at once rich and spare text.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2025
At first glance, Nam-Joon Cho’s lab at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University looks like your typical research facility—scientists toiling away, crowded workbenches, a hum of machinery in the background.
—Sandy Ong, JSTOR Daily, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
The porch smells faintly of lime and ginger, and the house hums the way houses do when a good conversation has just ended.
—Gina Pace, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
For decades, the profession has been stereotyped as a world of calculators and spreadsheets, quietly humming in the background of business.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hum
Noun
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Washington delivers the dialogue with a thrilling range from purrs to roars, all imbued with an authoritative swagger.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
15 Aug. 2025
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Fluffy robot pets that purr for your attention or tell you a joke.—
Joseph Coughlin,
Forbes.com,
21 July 2025
Verb
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Luke Shaw’s readiness to charge down a ball falling out of the sky, burst through a mass of bodies and bludgeon it towards Casemiro for a tap-in was everything Amorim had asked for.—
Mark Critchley,
New York Times,
21 Sep. 2025
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Elizabeth Park’s formal gardens and walking loops burst with beautiful leaves.—
Allison Tibaldi,
USA Today,
20 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Continue reading … HOT AT COSTCO – September offerings at popular store have fans buzzing.—
,
FOXNews.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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Guy didn’t overlap, guy didn’t buzz, guy didn’t carry three.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The result was a ghostly, otherworldly sound that could shift from whispers to booming calls depending on the breath.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Sep. 2025
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The results cast doubt on whether the plumes truly carry whispers of alien life, or merely echoes of lifeless chemistry on the frozen shell.—
Sharmila Kuthunur,
Space.com,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Kering has been dragged down by steep declines at its star brand and a bulging debt load, forcing the group to shutter stores, offload real estate and reduce headcount after a dismal start to the year that saw group net profit plummet 46 percent in the first half.—
Luisa Zargani,
Footwear News,
14 Sep. 2025
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The cockpit, itself about as big as an entire Gulfstream private jet, looks like a pimple bulging from the WindRunner’s staggering frame.—
Andrew Moseman,
IEEE Spectrum,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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High in the hills near the Myanmar border, Ban Rak Thai greets the morning with the smell of oolong and the soft rustle of tea leaves.—
Lewis Nunn,
Forbes.com,
24 Aug. 2025
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As Denver’s locker room echoes with the empty rustles of equipment staffers, Jahdae Barron lingers.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The magnetic lid is easy to operate and access without having to zip and unzip all the time or leave it sitting there unsealed during a picnic.—
Adam Campbell-Schmitt,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
18 Sep. 2025
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To make quick work of the process, use your upholstery attachment to zip over the bed before removing the cover to place it in the laundry.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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For Catalans, the whirring activity at the Sagrada Família has become a symbol of their can-do culture.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
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Every evening, Hofstadter would leave his calculator whirring.—
Lyndie Chiou,
Quanta Magazine,
25 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hum. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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