What's the difference between buzz and hum?

Buzz


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To make a low, continuous, humming or sibilant sound, like that made by bees with their wings. Hence: To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice.
  • (v. t.) To sound forth by buzzing.
  • (v. t.) To whisper; to communicate, as tales, in an under tone; to spread, as report, by whispers, or secretly.
  • (v. t.) To talk to incessantly or confidentially in a low humming voice.
  • (v. t.) To sound with a "buzz".
  • (n.) A continuous, humming noise, as of bees; a confused murmur, as of general conversation in low tones, or of a general expression of surprise or approbation.
  • (n.) A whisper; a report spread secretly or cautiously.
  • (n.) The audible friction of voice consonants.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Moses buzzed about with intent, while Cesc Fàbregas relished a forward role tucked just behind Costa.
  • (2) Walcott buzzed in a free-kick and when this dropped to Elneny his 20-yard effort was saved superbly by Jakupovic.
  • (3) "If I hear my phone buzz, I have to pull it out and look at it, and then I'm totally distracted...
  • (4) These faux pas by the Institutional Revolutionary party candidate, famous for his good looks and telenovela star wife, at the international literary festival in Guadalajara, left Mexico's social and mainstream media buzzing with mockery.
  • (5) Absorbed into the bloodstream through the lip, Snus has a softer but longer nicotine buzz than cigarettes.
  • (6) Internet chatrooms have been buzzing with messages condemning Tokyo's response, with some calling for a boycott of Japanese goods.
  • (7) There is already a buzz about the place and by eleven the players are already in the dressing room, just next to the manager's office.
  • (8) Medical effectiveness initiatives, outcomes research, and practice guidelines--the new buzz words for the 90s--will change the way health care services are delivered and allocated.
  • (9) Yet even after Buzz ran aground, the row with Facebook went on - and in retrospect, it's obvious that Mark Zuckerberg didn't trust Google not to be trying to build its own social network and using Facebook's social graph to do it.
  • (10) Live streaming from the main stages enabled viewers to watch sets in real time – and combining it with social media meant you could see where the buzz was and flip over to see the best music.
  • (11) Places such as Manchester, Newham, Lewisham and Liverpool buzz with desire to do things better.
  • (12) "I get back late from all these try-out gigs and the buzz keeps me awake.
  • (13) On the other hand, well: tablets, smartphones, DVD players, advanced sex toys that do something other than just buzz, cars that don't smell like foot disease, an abundance of stuff that makes life easier and more interesting.
  • (14) A few days later, the line stretched round the block for last year's SXSW buzz band Haim .
  • (15) The buzz won Charli a deal with Asylum, a subsidiary of major label Atlantic, but she didn't release another thing until 2011.
  • (16) With his dying breath, Fred Ery identified Floyd "Buzz" Fay as his murderer.
  • (17) If I'm in a good mood it looks like Buzz Lightyear.
  • (18) With the music, as in this summer’s Roman season: the composer Claire van Kampen , licensed by Globe boss Dominic Dromgoole, worked around the idea that the Romans imported their festive music, and its instruments, from North Africa, and got hold of Moroccan and rustic Spanish drums and buzz-booming shawms .
  • (19) He went on to conduct The Book Programme (1974-80), and buzzed around the world for Robinson's Travels (1977-79).
  • (20) Her hums on early awards buzz Speaking of Oscar contenders, it will be fascinating to see how Spike Jonze's latest movie pans out.

Hum


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To make a low, prolonged sound, like that of a bee in flight; to drone; to murmur; to buzz; as, a top hums.
  • (v. i.) To make a nasal sound, like that of the letter m prolonged, without opening the mouth, or articulating; to mumble in monotonous undertone; to drone.
  • (v. i.) To make an inarticulate sound, like h'm, through the nose in the process of speaking, from embarrassment or a affectation; to hem.
  • (v. i.) To express satisfaction by a humming noise.
  • (v. i.) To have the sensation of a humming noise; as, my head hums, -- a pathological condition.
  • (v. t.) To sing with shut mouth; to murmur without articulation; to mumble; as, to hum a tune.
  • (v. t.) To express satisfaction with by humming.
  • (v. t.) To flatter by approving; to cajole; to impose on; to humbug.
  • (n.) A low monotonous noise, as of bees in flight, of a swiftly revolving top, of a wheel, or the like; a drone; a buzz.
  • (n.) Any inarticulate and buzzing sound
  • (n.) The confused noise of a crowd or of machinery, etc., heard at a distance; as, the hum of industry.
  • (n.) A buzz or murmur, as of approbation.
  • (n.) An imposition or hoax.
  • (interj.) An inarticulate nasal sound or murmur, like h'm, uttered by a speaker in pause from embarrassment, affectation, etc.
  • (interj.) A kind of strong drink formerly used.
  • (interj.) Ahem; hem; an inarticulate sound uttered in a pause of speech implying doubt and deliberation.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) As he sits in Athens wondering when the International Monetary Fund is going to deliver another bailout, George Papandreou might be tempted to hum a few lines of Tired of Waiting for You.
  • (2) Although the cranes swing, much of the new living zones now being created range from the ho-hum to the outright catastrophic.
  • (3) Mononuclear cells were fractionated from human cord blood by affinity chromatography on immobilized peanut agglutinin, as previously described (Rosenberg et al., Hum Immunol 7:67, 1983).
  • (4) Managers scurry back and forth across the Atlantic with advance copies handcuffed to their wrists, critics are required to sign contracts promising that they will not so much as hum the contents to their nearest and dearest, and the music press acts as if the world is about to witness the most significant release since Nelson Mandela's.
  • (5) He shook his head from side to side, whispering or humming the same three-note tune.
  • (6) The apolipoprotein E3-Leiden variant has been shown to be associated with familial dysbetalipoproteinemia (FD) in a dominant manner (Havekes et al., Hum Genet 1986;73:157-163).
  • (7) The politics of football have long been accompanied by a background hum of corruption claims, but in recent times it has become a cacophony.
  • (8) Selling its own phone would mean it could make itself the background hum of many peoples' lives everywhere – and show adverts and collect data on its own terms.
  • (9) His father, who was fond of humming the popular ballad Keep Right on to the End of the Road, lost his job in the great depression of the early 1930s.
  • (10) Hollow-eyed children beg outside restaurants and cafes that hum with the chatter of shisha-smoking customers.
  • (11) Her hums on early awards buzz Speaking of Oscar contenders, it will be fascinating to see how Spike Jonze's latest movie pans out.
  • (12) That robs astronomy of one of its key recruiting tools: the chance to plant young scientists under the dish and let its hum capture their imagination.
  • (13) Four hours from the Zurich madhouse, Uefa’s base on the shores of Lake Geneva in Nyon hums with calm purpose.
  • (14) He made politics great again in the sense of getting people to care instead of allowing it to hum softly in the background.
  • (15) I am not sure that a lucrative career in rape gags is more helpful than a failed one, but the rape hum seems eternal.
  • (16) "I wouldn't say this agreement was entirely ho-hum but it does not address the big ticket issues.
  • (17) And I think Stephen hummed and hah-ed in an embarrassed fashion.
  • (18) humming, whistling) for atonal melody, but that non-musicians could not use any effective strategies for melody coding.
  • (19) At the moment the noise is like a city humming away.
  • (20) Without the faintest idea what I was humming along to, my mother left me to my obsession with nothing more than a shrug.

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