What's the difference between hum and sound?

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.

Sound


Definition:

  • (n.) The air bladder of a fish; as, cod sounds are an esteemed article of food.
  • (n.) A cuttlefish.
  • (superl.) Whole; unbroken; unharmed; free from flaw, defect, or decay; perfect of the kind; as, sound timber; sound fruit; a sound tooth; a sound ship.
  • (superl.) Healthy; not diseased; not being in a morbid state; -- said of body or mind; as, a sound body; a sound constitution; a sound understanding.
  • (superl.) Firm; strong; safe.
  • (superl.) Free from error; correct; right; honest; true; faithful; orthodox; -- said of persons; as, a sound lawyer; a sound thinker.
  • (superl.) Founded in truth or right; supported by justice; not to be overthrown on refuted; not fallacious; as, sound argument or reasoning; a sound objection; sound doctrine; sound principles.
  • (superl.) heavy; laid on with force; as, a sound beating.
  • (superl.) Undisturbed; deep; profound; as, sound sleep.
  • (superl.) Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective; as, a sound title to land.
  • (adv.) Soundly.
  • (n.) A narrow passage of water, or a strait between the mainland and an island; also, a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean; as, the Sound between the Baltic and the german Ocean; Long Island Sound.
  • (v. t.) To measure the depth of; to fathom; especially, to ascertain the depth of by means of a line and plummet.
  • (v. t.) Fig.: To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe.
  • (v. t.) To explore, as the bladder or urethra, with a sound; to examine with a sound; also, to examine by auscultation or percussion; as, to sound a patient.
  • (v. i.) To ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device.
  • (n.) Any elongated instrument or probe, usually metallic, by which cavities of the body are sounded or explored, especially the bladder for stone, or the urethra for a stricture.
  • (n.) The peceived object occasioned by the impulse or vibration of a material substance affecting the ear; a sensation or perception of the mind received through the ear, and produced by the impulse or vibration of the air or other medium with which the ear is in contact; the effect of an impression made on the organs of hearing by an impulse or vibration of the air caused by a collision of bodies, or by other means; noise; report; as, the sound of a drum; the sound of the human voice; a horrid sound; a charming sound; a sharp, high, or shrill sound.
  • (n.) The occasion of sound; the impulse or vibration which would occasion sound to a percipient if present with unimpaired; hence, the theory of vibrations in elastic media such cause sound; as, a treatise on sound.
  • (n.) Noise without signification; empty noise; noise and nothing else.
  • (v. i.) To make a noise; to utter a voice; to make an impulse of the air that shall strike the organs of hearing with a perceptible effect.
  • (v. i.) To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound.
  • (v. i.) To make or convey a certain impression, or to have a certain import, when heard; hence, to seem; to appear; as, this reproof sounds harsh; the story sounds like an invention.
  • (v. t.) To causse to make a noise; to play on; as, to sound a trumpet or a horn.
  • (v. t.) To cause to exit as a sound; as, to sound a note with the voice, or on an instrument.
  • (v. t.) To order, direct, indicate, or proclain by a sound, or sounds; to give a signal for by a certain sound; as, to sound a retreat; to sound a parley.
  • (v. t.) To celebrate or honor by sounds; to cause to be reported; to publish or proclaim; as, to sound the praises of fame of a great man or a great exploit.
  • (v. t.) To examine the condition of (anything) by causing the same to emit sounds and noting their character; as, to sound a piece of timber; to sound a vase; to sound the lungs of a patient.
  • (v. t.) To signify; to import; to denote.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The sound of the ambulance frightened us, especially us children, and panic gripped the entire community: people believe that whoever is taken into the ambulance to the hospital will die – you so often don’t see them again.
  • (2) Here, we review the nature of the heart sound signal and the various signal-processing techniques that have been applied to PCG analysis.
  • (3) Our experience indicates that lateral rhinotomy is a safe, repeatable and cosmetically sound procedure that provides and excellent surgical approach to the nasal cavity and sinuses.
  • (4) Compared with conservative management, better long-term success (determined by return of athletic soundness and less evidence of degenerative joint disease) was achieved with surgical curettage of elbow subchondral cystic lesions.
  • (5) Respiratory alteration in the intensity of heart sounds is one of the commonest auscultatory pitfalls.
  • (6) I usually use them as a rag with which to clean the toilet but I didn’t have anything else to wear today because I’m so fat.” While this exchange will sound baffling to outsiders, to Brits it actually sounds like this: “You like my dress?
  • (7) It is felt that otologic surgery should be done before the pinna reconstruction as it is very important to try and introduce sound into these children at an early age.
  • (8) To evaluate the relationship between the motion pattern and degree of organic change of the anterior mitral leaflet (AML) and the features of the mitral component of the first heart sound (M1) or the opening snap (OS), 37 patients with mitral stenosis (MS) were studied by auscultation, phonocardiography and echocardiography.
  • (9) The talent base in the UK – not just producers and actors but camera and sound – is unparalleled, so I think creativity will continue unabated.” Lee does recognise “massive” cultural differences between the US and UK.
  • (10) Among the epileptic patients investigated by the stereotactic E. E. G. (Talairach) whose electrodes were introduced at or around the auditory cortex (Area 41, 42), the topography of the auditory responses by the electrical bipolar stimulation and that of the auditory evoked potential by the bilateral click sound stimulation were studied in relation to the ac--pc line (Talairach).
  • (11) Seconds later the camera turns away as what sounds like at least 15 gunshots are fired amid bystanders’ screams.
  • (12) Not making a sound for 24 hours pretty nearly killed me.
  • (13) The decision of the editors to solicit a review for the Medical Progress series of this journal devoted to current concepts of the renal handling of salt and water is sound in that this important topic in kidney physiology has recently been the object of a number of new, exciting and, in some instances, quite unexpected insights into the mechanisms governing sodium excretion.
  • (14) Reduced mineral absorption is fairly well documented and has sound theoretical support from basic chemistry.
  • (15) Endogenous sound-induced (binaural) inhibition which is suggested to be GABA-mediated is also significantly reduced in IC neurons of the GEPR.
  • (16) Five horses raced successfully and lowered the lifetime race records, 1 horse was sound and trained successfully, but died of colic, and 1 horse was not lame in early training.
  • (17) This paper reports two experiments concerned with verbal representation in the test stage of recognition memory for naturalistic sounds.
  • (18) Although sound pressure levels are high, they are probably reduced before reaching the cochlea of the fetus because of the surrounding amniotic fluid and the fluid in the middle ear.
  • (19) The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of listening experience on the perception of intraphonemic differences in the absence of specific training with the synthetic speech sounds being tested.
  • (20) Digital respirosonography provides an easy way to assess lung sound amplitudes, frequencies and timing over several breaths.

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