hump
a rounded protuberance, especially a fleshy protuberance on the back, as that due to abnormal curvature of the spine in humans, or that normally present in certain animals, as the camel or bison.
Physical Geography.
a low, rounded rise of ground; hummock.
a mountain or mountain range.
Railroads. (in a switchyard) a raised area down which cars pushed to its crest roll by gravity and momentum for automatic sorting through a series of preset switches.
Slang: Vulgar.
an act or instance of sexual intercourse.
a partner in sexual intercourse.
the hump,
British Slang. a fit of depression or bad humor: to get the hump.
(initial capital letter) (in World War II) the Himalayas.
to raise (the back) in a hump; hunch: The cat humped its back.
Railroads. to sort (cars) by means of a hump.
Informal. to exert (oneself) in a great effort.
Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse with.
Slang.
to place or bear on the back or shoulder.
to carry or haul.
to load or unload; lift.
to rise in a hump.
Informal. to exert oneself; hustle or hurry.
Slang: Vulgar. to engage in sexual intercourse.
Idioms about hump
over the hump, past the most difficult, time-consuming, or dangerous part or period: The doctor says she's over the hump now and should improve steadily.
Origin of hump
1Other words from hump
- humper, noun
- humpless, adjective
Words Nearby hump
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use hump in a sentence
The problem is getting over the disgust hump, because people don’t realize they’ll cease to be disgusted once they get used to something.
They were about how animals got their famous features, like the camel’s hump and the leopard’s spots.
Why Birds Can Fly Over Mount Everest - Issue 94: Evolving | Walter Murch | December 30, 2020 | NautilusThe vehicles will have longer wheelbases with shorter overhangs, which means the steering wheel and pedals can come forward, and there’s no hump down the center of the cabin to accommodate the drivetrain.
Hyundai plans to build dozens of vehicles on its new modular EV platform | Stan Horaczek | December 3, 2020 | Popular-ScienceIf Democrats can get lower-propensity voters in the Rio Grande Valley and the big metro areas to turn out, I’m convinced we’d get over the hump.
It’s no longer Wednesday, but you should still check out our OZY hump day playlist.
Diplomatic dispatches at the time, written by men who had no reason to lie to their own rulers, reported no hump or withered arm.
Also 2004: John Kerry kept it close but never got over the hump.
Barack Obama’s Cockiness Problem in His Contest With Mitt Romney | Michael Tomasky | April 17, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTDespite 20 years of cycling between expectation and disappointment, I hump along with that aim in mind.
In the former Bill Hurt longed to hump you and in the latter a large dog did just that in your role as an animal trainer.
Of course, not even a new Contract With America may be enough to help Republicans over the hump in 2010.
She wore an old poke bonnet and carried a crooked stick, and there seemed to be a hump upon her back.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn | Margaret PenroseThe hump-backed little figure with poke-bonnet and cane was chased out upon the broken landing.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn | Margaret PenroseThe cloak and the hump under it were likewise torn off and went sailing away on the current.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn | Margaret PenroseNow, said the hump-backed man, who had watched him keenly, what do you mean by coming into my house in this violent way?
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3) | Charles Dickenshump, stay and take this wolfeOut of my brest, that thou hast lodgd there, orFor euer lose mee.
The Fatal Dowry | Philip Massinger
British Dictionary definitions for hump
/ (hʌmp) /
a rounded protuberance or projection, as of earth, sand, etc
pathol a rounded deformity of the back in persons with kyphosis, consisting of a convex spinal curvature
a rounded protuberance on the back of a camel or related animal
the hump British informal a fit of depression or sulking (esp in the phrase it gives me the hump)
over the hump past the largest or most difficult portion of work, time, etc
to form or become a hump; hunch; arch
(tr) British slang to carry or heave
slang to have sexual intercourse with (someone)
hump one's swag Australian and NZ informal (of a tramp) to carry one's belongings from place to place on one's back
Origin of hump
1Derived forms of hump
- humplike, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with hump
see over the hump.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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