What's the difference between hum and whir?

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.

Whir


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To whirl round, or revolve, with a whizzing noise; to fly or more quickly with a buzzing or whizzing sound; to whiz.
  • (v. t.) To hurry a long with a whizzing sound.
  • (n.) A buzzing or whizzing sound produced by rapid or whirling motion; as, the whir of a partridge; the whir of a spinning wheel.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Here's a picture of Mike Ashley's whirly-bird instead.
  • (2) In a whir of lycra and straining calf muscles, the sleek, bent bodies flashed past, urged on by the crowds.
  • (3) At night, if you are quiet, you can hear them whirring from the Hills Hoist.
  • (4) We strolled across springy heather and moss as wet as a sponge, and a strange cackling call of “go-back, go-back” rose on the wind: small coveys of red grouse whirred away from us.
  • (5) I’m sure the person had a valid reason but it should be clear that the Ka’bah should not suddenly be surrounding by whirring Segways.” A hoverboard is a levitating board that was popularised by Marty McFly in the Back to the Future films.
  • (6) I see this as the most damaging event for our brand in the company’s 140-year history,” Tanaka said after making a ritual deep bow of contrition while cameras whirred and flashed.
  • (7) Perhaps, rather than the mystique, it’s the sense of knowledge that keeps them hanging on – that perpetual feeling of opening the city up like a pocket watch and seeing its cogs and springs all whirring away inside.
  • (8) This happened on Monday when X-Files star Gillian Anderson retweeted a poster made by a fan, imagining her as the new 007 : the actor photoshopped in front of that big iconic whirly gun barrel and the official logo pasted at the bottom.
  • (9) ‘owl-light’ (Lancashire) fizmer the whispering sound of wind in reeds or grass (Fenland) grimlins the night hours around midsummer when dusk blends into dawn (Orkney) The word-hoard: Robert Macfarlane on rewilding our language of landscape Read more gruffy ground the surface landscape left behind by lead-mining (Somerset) grumma a mirage caused by mist or haze (Shetland) hob-gob a dangerously choppy sea (Suffolk) muxy of land; sticky, miry, muddy (Exmoor) outshifts the fringes and boundaries of a town (Cambridgeshire) roarie-bummlers fast-moving storm clouds (Scots) snow-bones long thin patches of snow still lying after a thaw, often in dips or stream-cuts (Yorkshire) turn-whol a deep and seething pool where two quick streams meet (Cumbria) zwer the whirring sound made by a covey of partridge taking flight (Exmoor)
  • (10) The two other videos uploaded to the account are titled “natural hallucinogen 2x (faster and better trip)” and “natural hallucinogen slow motion (stronger and longer trip),” and depict whirring graphics.
  • (11) But these exchanges are not places either: they are server farms, air-conditioned warehouses filled with rack-mounted computers, complete with blinking lights and whirring discs.
  • (12) For the most part the only sound we hear is the whirring of our wheels and birdsong.
  • (13) That craft whirred into view at 9.50am – cutting it fine for a 10 o'clock meeting, but you know what?
  • (14) "These guys have to be super-smart and super-dedicated," says one manager against the blinking lights and whirring fans.
  • (15) While assembling Room 237, the director found himself watching The Shining again and again, his brain whirring, his senses in uproar.
  • (16) He cut up a 10-volume illustrated Larousse encyclopaedia he'd bought in Bath, apparently using 32 pairs of scissors, and his collage technique helps depict such Thomas phrases as "slow clocks" (cue for several whirring time-pieces) or "the boys are dreaming wicked" (two pin-ups and touches of a Wild West rodeo).
  • (17) But the questions raised by the women's movements whirred around her mind.
  • (18) But against the odds, the cassette has whirred into fabulous life again, and on 7 September, an international event will celebrate its resurgence.
  • (19) He may succeed in crippling al-Qaida and preventing some attacks today, but it is now harder than ever to believe that a young child in Pakistan hearing the whirring noises of drones above them will look up and see Obama's America as "the relentless opponent of terror and tyranny, and the light of hope to the world" .
  • (20) The wingless whirly-bird which brought Danny Graham and his agent to Sunderland is unable to take off because of windy weather conditions.

Words possibly related to "hum"

Words possibly related to "whir"