▪ I. ahem, int. (and n.)
(əˈhɛm)
[a lengthened form of hem! an inarticulate sound made in clearing the throat.]
An exclamation to attract attention to the speaker, or to give him time to consider what he is to say; also, to express disapproval by a factitious clearing of the throat. Hence as n.
| 1763 C. Johnstone Reverie II. 151 Hem! ahem! In the first place, said he, clearing his voice. 1814 J. Boswell Justiciary Opera 65 Gal-lery—si-lence—Ahem! 1848 G. E. Jewsbury Let. 12 Aug. (1892) 252 George Sand corresponds with Miss ―, and calls her the ‘sister of her soul’. Ahem! 1928 R. Campbell Wayzgoose ii. 58 Then having seen his error, [he] paled with fear And coughed—Ahem, we'll leave the matter here! 1929 D. H. Lawrence Pansies 147 They were just a bloody collective fraud, That was what their Ahem! meant. |
▪ II. ahem, v.
(əˈhɛm)
[f. ahem int.]
intr. To exclaim ‘ahem!’; also trans., to pass off with the exclamation ‘ahem!’.
| 1839 Fraser's Mag. XIX. 125 He immediately ‘a-hems’ away his jocularity. 1876 Meredith Beauch. Career III. ix. 166 Tuckham brushed his hand over his mouth and ahemed. 1891 ― One of our Conq. I. xiii. 240 He..pulled the waistcoat, and swelled it, ahemming. |