hums

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of hum.

   He hums along to every song that comes on the radio.

   The transformer hums under load, a low note that rises as demand climbs.

   Note

   The grammar turns on whether an object follows. With one, it means voicing something through closed lips, as in she hums the chorus. Without one, it covers an insect's drone, a machine's steady note, or a place as busy as a hive. British slang adds a blunter intransitive use, to smell bad, so it is worth knowing which sense a listener expects.

   She hums the opening bars before she plays them.

   By Friday that bin really hums.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of hum.

   The recording captured several distinct hums layered beneath the melody.

   Faint hums rose from the rows of servers in the data center.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs: hums is also the present-tense verb, so only the sentence tells them apart. Compare the hums of the servers (noun) with the server hums (verb). As a plural it suits the meanings you can count, such as separate tunes or separate sounds. In British slang a hum is a bad smell, so hums can mean several such odors.

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