hum means "sing with closed lips". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in hum?

hum has 1 syllable: hum. In IPA it is /ˈhʌm/.

What is another word for hum?

Close synonyms include buzz, seethe, thrum, busyness, Harkat-ul-Mujahidin. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is hum a common word?

hum is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

hum — meaning, pronunciation and 7 definitions

verb

4 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
sing with closed lips
“She hummed a melody”
Broadersing
2.
be noisy with activity
“This office is buzzing with activity”
Synonymsbuzz seethe
Broaderbe
Narrowerteem
3.
sound with a monotonous hum
Synonymsthrum
Broadersound
4.
make a low continuous sound
“The refrigerator is humming”
Broadermake noise

noun

3 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity
“they manifested all the busyness of a pack of beavers”
“there is a constant hum of military preparation”
Synonymsbusyness
Broaderaction
2.
an Islamic fundamentalist group in Pakistan that fought the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s; now operates as a terrorist organization primarily in Kashmir and seeks Kashmir's accession by Pakistan
SynonymsHarkat-ul-Mujahidin Harkat ul-Ansar HUA Harkat ul-Mujahedeen Al Faran Movement of Holy Warriors
Broaderterrorist organization
Pakistan · terrorism
3.
a humming noise
“the hum of distant traffic”
Synonymshumming
Broadernoise

Other forms of hum

plural: hums·
past tense or participle: hummed
present participle: humming

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about hum

What does hum mean?: hum means "sing with closed lips". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in hum?: hum has 1 syllable: hum. In IPA it is /ˈhʌm/.
What is another word for hum?: Close synonyms include buzz, seethe, thrum, busyness, Harkat-ul-Mujahidin. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is hum a common word?: hum is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for hum come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

verb

4 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
sing with closed lips
“She hummed a melody”
Broadersing
2.
be noisy with activity
“This office is buzzing with activity”
Synonymsbuzz seethe
Broaderbe
Narrowerteem
3.
sound with a monotonous hum
Synonymsthrum
Broadersound
4.
make a low continuous sound
“The refrigerator is humming”
Broadermake noise

noun

3 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity
“they manifested all the busyness of a pack of beavers”
“there is a constant hum of military preparation”
Synonymsbusyness
Broaderaction
2.
an Islamic fundamentalist group in Pakistan that fought the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s; now operates as a terrorist organization primarily in Kashmir and seeks Kashmir's accession by Pakistan
SynonymsHarkat-ul-Mujahidin Harkat ul-Ansar HUA Harkat ul-Mujahedeen Al Faran Movement of Holy Warriors
Broaderterrorist organization
Pakistan · terrorism
3.
a humming noise
“the hum of distant traffic”
Synonymshumming
Broadernoise

Other forms of hum

plural: hums·
past tense or participle: hummed
present participle: humming

Questions about hum

What does hum mean?: hum means "sing with closed lips". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in hum?: hum has 1 syllable: hum. In IPA it is /ˈhʌm/.
What is another word for hum?: Close synonyms include buzz, seethe, thrum, busyness, Harkat-ul-Mujahidin. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is hum a common word?: hum is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

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hum

verb

noun

Other forms of hum

Questions about hum

Tools

Jump to

Images & video

PDF & writing

Calculate & convert

Health & fitness

AI, code & work

Learn & play

Tool directories

Search

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Help

Theme

hum

verb

noun

Other forms of hum

Questions about hum