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 coitus.
a partner in coitus.
the hump,
BritishSlang.a fit of depression or bad humor: to get the hump.
(initial capital letter)(in World War II) the Himalayas.
verb (used with object)
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.
verb (used without object)
to rise in a hump.
Informal. to exert oneself; hustle or hurry.
Slang: Vulgar. to engage in sexual intercourse.
Idioms
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
First recorded in 1700–10; probably abstracted from humpbacked
1680s (in hump-backed), from Dutch homp "lump," from Middle Low German hump "bump," from Proto-Germanic *hump-, from PIE *kemb- "to bend, turn, change, exchange." Replaced, or perhaps influenced by, crump, from Old English crump. A meaning attested from 1901 is "mound in a railway yard over which cars must be pushed," which may be behind the figurative sense of "critical point of an undertaking" (1914). Humpback whale is from 1725.
hump
v.
"to do the sex act with," attested from 1785, but the source of this indicates it is an older word. Meaning "to raise into a hump" is from 1840. Related: Humped; humping.
Past the most difficult part, as in She's over the hump with her dissertation; she'll soon be done. This expression alludes to a barrier that impedes progress. [Colloquial; 1920s]
