hump
Americannoun
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humps
plural
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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.
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Physical Geography.
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a low, rounded rise of ground; hummock.
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a mountain or mountain range.
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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.
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Slang: Vulgar.
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an act or instance of sexual intercourse.
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a partner in sexual intercourse.
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the hump,
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British Slang. a fit of depression or bad humor.
to get the hump.
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(initial capital letter) (in World War II) the Himalayas.
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verb (used with object)
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humps,
present (3rd person singular)
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humped,
past participle, past
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humping
present participle
verb (used without object)
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humps,
present (3rd person singular)
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humped,
past participle, past
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humping
present participle
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to rise in a hump.
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Informal. to exert oneself; hustle or hurry.
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Slang: Vulgar. to engage in sexual intercourse.
idioms
noun
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a rounded protuberance or projection, as of earth, sand, etc
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pathol a rounded deformity of the back in persons with kyphosis, consisting of a convex spinal curvature
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a rounded protuberance on the back of a camel or related animal
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informal a fit of depression or sulking (esp in the phrase it gives me the hump )
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past the largest or most difficult portion of work, time, etc
verb
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to form or become a hump; hunch; arch
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slang (tr) to carry or heave
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slang to have sexual intercourse with (someone)
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informal (of a tramp) to carry one's belongings from place to place on one's back
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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humpsimple
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humpssimple
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have humpedperfect
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has humpedperfect
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am humpingprogressive
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are humpingprogressive
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is humpingprogressive
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have been humpingperfect progressive
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has been humpingperfect progressive
Past
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humpedsimple
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had humpedperfect
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was humpingprogressive
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were humpingprogressive
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had been humpingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hump
First recorded in 1700–10; probably abstracted from humpbacked; akin to Frisian hompe “lump, chunk,” Dutch homp “lump, chunk,” Middle Low German hump “bump,” Norwegian dialect hupp, hump “flank (of an animal),” or Low German humpel, hümpel “height, knob, hump (of a camel)”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Some aspiring buyers are digging into retirement funds or seeking out government programs to help them get over the down-payment hump.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
Braun told me that managed security service providers offer a two-way benefit: it helps his project get over the scalability hump by pooling resources, while the small utilities benefit from a shared information environment.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
The Clippers, meanwhile, are still trying to get over the hump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
"Once you start to get over that hump and you get a win, you get another win, it sort of breeds confidence from there," he said.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
“We did not fail! The cauldron is ours! There it lies,” he added, pointing past the riverbank to the black hump of the Crochan.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
Shortly after, city officials expedited the hiring of crossing guards, started a program to add speed humps near 70 schools, and reduced speeds around 250 schools.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
The eyes dart back and forth across the desert landscape, detecting rocks, dips and humps, variations in sand color flashing into view like a real-life scene from “Mad Max.”
From Washington Times ● Dec. 14, 2023
The government wants to cut emissions by replacing fossil fuel boilers with electric heat humps and in some cases hydrogen-powered devices, as well as making use of greener heat networks.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2023
It could well be humps, plural, now for Buffalo.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 23, 2023
Removing the hats carefully, he disclosed round humps of wire netting.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
“The rain has swollen the river to a thick brown muscle, humped up in the middle by its own force,” Cal notices, inspecting the ground where Rachel’s body was found.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
It was in a humped position while walking and seemed unable to move, indicating severe abdominal pain, officers said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2023
It has cloned critically endangered, double-humped wild Bactrian camels using the eggs and surrogate mothers of single humped camels, Wani said.
From Reuters ● May 25, 2023
For four months, state and federal officials have sanctioned a hunt of the shaggy, humped animals that delight millions of tourists and are a centerpiece of Native American culture and history.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
Simon saw a humped thing suddenly sit up on the top and look down at him.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
Training a dog to stop humping may be difficult, as it is often a compulsive behavior.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2019
Give Logan Paul a camera and put him in an elevator and he will probably start humping the handrail, or pressing every single button, or something even more stupid.
From Slate ● Apr. 9, 2018
“Every person I know is humping it, and he or she gained that ethic from growing up in the inner city,” he writes persuasively.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 6, 2015
Mr. Hetherington broke his leg on a mission and had to walk four hours down a mountain on it, humping his gear, to get back to camp.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2011
On January 1, Orde-Lees was skiing near the edge of the floe when a twelve-foot-long, fanged leopard seal lunged up out of the water and began humping toward him at astonishing speed.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
