humming

«humming» in Mova's school dictionary: singing a tune with your lips closed, making a «mmm» sound — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb form (-ing form of hum: hum, hums, hummed, humming); noun (humming — uncountable); adjective (humming)

meaning for a pupil

1) Humming is singing a tune with your lips closed, making a «mmm» sound. tree →

2) Humming is a low, steady buzzing sound, like bees, a fridge or machines. tree →

3) Humming (adjective) can mean busy and full of activity. tree →

sense in the lessons

In music lessons, children hum a tune before learning the words. In science, a humming sound comes from vibrations, such as fast-beating insect wings or a working machine; this links to how sound is made. In stories, humming shows a character is happy or relaxed, or a strange hum builds suspense. Phrases: hum a tune, hum along, the humming of bees, humming with activity.

examples

• She was humming her favourite song while she painted. tree →
• We heard the humming of bees in the lavender. tree →
• The fridge makes a quiet humming noise. tree →
• Hum the tune if you don't know the words. tree →
• The playground was humming with excitement before the holidays. tree →
• The humming of the wires came from the electricity pylons. tree →
• ‘What’s that you’re humming?’ asked the old man. tree →

note

Double m before -ing and -ed: hum, humming, hummed. A hum is low and steady; a buzz is sharper. Hummingbirds are named after the humming sound of their wings.

In the corpora

• Warm-ups such as lip trills and humming help the breath and the voice muscles work without strain.
• Near your town, transformers in a humming substation turn the voltage down so it is safe enough to use in homes.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «humming» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.