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 3. (old).—See quot.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1785. Grose, Vulg Tongue, s.v. Hums, persons at church; there is a great number of hums in the autem, there is a great congregation in the church.

Verb (old).—1. To cheat; to bamboozle; to quiz (q.v.).

1762. Goldsmith, Life of Nash, in Wks., p. 552 (Globe). Here Nash, if I may be permitted the use of a polite and fashionable phrase, was humm'd.

1764-1817. T. G. Holman, Abroad and at Home, i., 3. Ser. It is queer enough that his father, Sir Simon Flourish, should be hummed so as to think he is going the tour of Europe, when, all the while, he never got a step farther than St. George's Fields.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied, iii., 1. Go seek him there: I fear he's only humming.

1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 4. While you hum the poor spoonies with speeches so pretty.

d. 1840. Mad. D'Arblay, Diary, ii., 153 [ed. 1842]. I don't mean to cajole you hither with the expectation of amusement or entertainment; you and I know better than to hum or be hummed in that manner.

1856. Elliott, Carolina Sports, p. 122. I hummed him, my stripping was all a feint.

2. (old).—To mumble.

d. 1842. Maginn, Vidocq Versified. To hear Old Cotton humming his pray.

To hum and haw, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To hesitate, to raise objections.

1469. Paston Letters, II., 347 (Ed. Gairdner). He wold have gotyn it aweye by humys and by hays, but I wold not so be answeryd.

1594. Nashe, Unf. Traveller (Grosart, Wks., v., 96). Hee made no more humming or haulting, but in despite of her husbandes kinsfolkes, gaue her her Nunc dimittis.

1610. Jonson, Alchemist, iii., 2. You may be anything, and leave off to make Long-winded exercises; or suck up Your ha! and hum! in a tune.

1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, i., 1. A sober-drawn exhortation of six hours, whose better part was the hum-ha-hum.

1620. Massinger, Fatal Dowry, iv., 1. Do you stand Humming and hahing now?

d. 1680. Butler, Remains (1759), ii., 103. He hums and hahs.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hum and Haw, to Hesitate in Speech; also to delay, or difficultly to be brought to Consent.

1706. Mrs. Centlivre, Love at a Venture, iv., 2, Wks. (1872), i., 304. That was the first excuse that came at my tongue's end—and you know there is no humming and hawing with my old master, sir.

1729. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 14, p. 165 (2nd Ed.). If any person shall presume to exceed six minutes in a story, to hum or haw, use hyphens between his words, or digressions.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. vi. Lord Ascot hummed and hawed, and told him to tell his father he had been a good boy.

To make things hum, verb. phr. (American).—To force the pace; to keep moving.

1888. San Francisco Weekly Exam., 23 Feb. Ever since he has taken the newspaper reins in San Francisco he has made things hum.

1890. Punch, 22 Feb. If I was flush of the ochre, I tell you I'd make the thing hum.

1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 28 Aug., p. 2, c. 3. With their advent things begin to hum.

1893. W. T. Stead, Review of Reviews, p. 152. In the opinion of both foes and friends we make things hum.

To hum around, verb. phr. (American).—To call to account; to call over the coals (q.v.).

Human, subs. (old: now American).—A human being. [Also Human Boar]. For synonyms, see Cove.