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humpback
[ huhmp-bak ]
/ ˈhʌmpˌbæk /
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noun
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…
Origin of humpback
First recorded in 1690–1700; apparently back formation from humpbacked
Words nearby humpback
humorist, humorous, humour, humoursome, hump, humpback, humpbacked, humpback salmon, humpback whale, hump day, humped
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use humpback in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for humpback
humpback
/ (ˈhʌmpˌbæk) /
noun
another word for hunchback
Also called: humpback whale a large whalebone whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, closely related and similar to the rorquals but with a humped back and long flippers: family Balaenopteridae
a Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, the male of which has a humped back and hooked jaws
Also called: humpback bridge British a road bridge having a sharp incline and decline and usually a narrow roadway
Derived forms of humpback
humpbacked, adjectiveWord Origin for humpback
C17: alteration of earlier crumpbacked, perhaps influenced by hunchback; perhaps related to Dutch homp lump
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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