▪ I. humming, vbl. n.1
(ˈhʌmɪŋ)
[f. hum v.1 + -ing1.]
The action of the verb hum, q.v.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 253/1 Hummynge (S. hunnynge), reuma. 1539 Kyngysmyll Let. 15 Apr. (MS. in P.R.O., S. P. Hen. VIII, §150. 138 b), The hummynge hacking and darke setting furthe of Gods word. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb iv. (1586) 176 b, At the doore of the Hyve..you heare a great huzzing and humming within. 1660 Trial Regic. 49 b, Gentlemen, This Humming is not at all becoming the Gravity of this Court. It is more fitting for a Stage-Play, then for a Court of Justice. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 148 ¶1 The Gentleman..has..practised Minuet-steps to his own Humming. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 129 The drowsy humming of the bees. |
▪ II. humming, vbl. n.2
see hum v.2
▪ III. humming, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
1. a. That hums; that makes or gives forth a low murmuring sound; † that hums approbation.
| 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. 1. Trophies 349 With sudden flerk the fatall hemp lets goe The humming Flint. 1681 Hickeringill Wks. (1716) I. 195 That..endeavour at Wit, Pun, or Quibble, so much admir'd by the Humming Tribe. 1703 J. Philips Splendid Shilling (R.), The humming prey, Regardless of their fate, rush on the toils Inextricable. 1827 Blackw. Mag. XXI. 504 The vernal balminess of the humming Sycamore. |
b. Said of sounds.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. l. 390 Grounde Iuie..put into the eares, taketh away the humming noyse..of the same. 1637 B. Jonson Sad Sheph. ii. ii, The scalie beetles..That make a humming murmur as they flie. 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 539 The earth swelled with a dismal humming noise. 1790 J. B. Moreton Mann. W. Ind. 17 The musquittoes..Their humming songs kept me in dread. |
c. Sometimes hyphened to its noun, forming a quasi-compound denoting a particular kind of the thing in question, as humming-bee, humming-top, humming-wheel.
| 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xl. 326 We..shut into a great Receiver a Humming Bee. 1819 Keats Let. 27 Sept. (1958) II. 216, I shall..make his little Boy a present of a humming top. 1837 Hood Ode to my Son ii, Thou human humming-bee, extracting honey From ev'ry blossom. 1837 London Med. Gaz. 1 Apr. 8/1 He compares it to the sound of a humming-top, or some such toy, called a ‘diable’ in French. 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 123 The Parcae..at their humming-wheel. 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles 18 Battledores, humming-tops. |
2. a. Of extraordinary activity, intensity, or magnitude; brisk, vigorous, energetic, ‘booming’; very large; ‘thumping’, ‘stunning’. slang or colloq.
(In some cases, referring to the hum which accompanies busy activity; but it is doubtful if this is the origin in all.)
| 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iv. iii. 183 Caught in a humming lie. 1684 J. H. Epil. Lacy's Sir H. Buffoon, With such, Ben. Johnson's humming Plays prevail. 1732 Fielding Mock Doctor Epil., He'd have a humming chance. 1733 ― Quixote in Eng. iii. iv, You seem to drive a humming trade here. c 1777 H. Walpole Marg. Notes Chesterf. Wks. in Trans. Philobib. Soc. (1867–8) XI. 59 Humming is a cant word for vast. A person meaning to describe a very large bird said, It was a Humming Bird. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. vii, He received a humming knock on the back of his head. 1896 Ld. Rosebery in Daily News 22 July 5/4 In the humming city, in the backwoods, in the swamps where the sentinel walked his lonely round..the thoughts..of men were that day directed to Robert Burns. |
b. Of liquor: Strong; ? causing a humming in the head; ? effervescing, frothing. colloq. (Cf. hum n.1 3.)
| 1675 T. Duffet Mock Tempest i. ii, A Tub of humming stuff would make a Cat speak. 1732 Fielding Covent Gard. Wks. 1784 II. 315 A bowl of humming punch. 1894 Baring-Gould Queen of L. II. 48 My humming brown ale. |
| advb. 1701 Farquhar Sir H. Wildair iv. ii, The wine was humming strong. |