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hump

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hump¹

  • /hʌmp/
  • [hɐmp]

Rhymes with -ʌmp

Where it comes from

Probably borrowed from Dutch homp (“hump, lump”) or Middle Low German hump (“heap, hill, stump”), from Old Saxon *hump (“hill, heap, thick piece”), from Proto-Germanic *humpaz (“hip, height”), from Proto-Indo-European *kumb- (“curved”). Compare Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb-, *ḱewb- (unnasalised root), and English hub (a softened variant without nasal?).

Cognate with West Frisian hompe (“lump, chunk”), Icelandic huppur (“flank”), Welsh cwm (“a hollow”), Latin incumbō (“to lie down”), Albanian sumbull (“round button, bud”), Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “bowl”), Avestan 𐬑𐬎𐬨𐬠𐬀 (xumba, “pot”), Sanskrit कुम्ब (kúmba, “thick end of bone”). Replaced, and perhaps influenced by, Old English crump (“crooked, bent”). More at cramp.

noun humps

  1. A mound of earth.
  2. A speed bump or speed hump.
  3. A deformity in humans caused by abnormal curvature of the upper spine.

    Similar: gibbous, humpback, hunch, hunchback

  4. A rounded fleshy mass, such as on a camel or zebu. Fat, melted down from the hump of the camel, is suggested in an Oriental manual as an aphrodisiac aid.

    Similar: bulge

  5. slang, vulgar An act of sexual intercourse.
  6. UK, slang, with the A bad mood. She's got the hump with me.
  7. slang A painfully boorish person. That guy is such a hump!
  8. A wave that forms in front of an operating hovercraft and impedes progress at low speeds.

verb humps · humping · humped

  1. transitive To bend something into a hump. The cattle were very uncomfortable, standing humped up in the bushes.
  2. ambitransitive To carry (something), especially with some exertion. For travellers have to carry bags, / And swagmen have to hump their swags / Like bottle-ohs or ragmen.

    Similar: heft

  3. ambitransitive, slang, vulgar To dry-hump. Stop humping the table, you sicko.
  4. ambitransitive, slang, vulgar To have sex (with).

    Similar: bang

  5. US, dated, slang To exert oneself; to make an effort. Lessons are keeping me humping now, and will probably do so all summer.
  6. dated, slang To vex or annoy.

    Similar: bother

  7. To shunt wagons / freight cars over the hump in a hump yard. In the first phase of the new yard's operation, from March 6 last, it was wisely decided to restrict the yard's use to allow for any "teething" ailments with complex electronic gadgets, so when I visited Margam early in May it was working well below its capacity, humping about 1,000 wagons a day; […
  8. UK, obsolete, slang, transitive To botch or spoil. "Why, sir," said one patterer, "I've gone out with a mate to work a litany, and he's humped it in no time." To 'hump,' in street parlance, is equivalent to 'botch,' in more genteel colloquialism.

Similar: shoulder, tote, trek, walk, bone, ride, shag, copulate with, irk, rile, hike

Hump²

proper noun the Hump

  1. historical, slang The Himalayas (a mountain range in Asia), as the challenge for the supply route between India and China. The C-47s could not make it over the Hump with a full load and full tanks.

proper noun

  1. A diminutive of the male given names Humphrey and Humphry.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: hunch, protuberance, bulge, gibbosity, gibbousness, hunch over, make out, bonk, bump, sleep with, lie with, bed, bang, get laid, have sex, protrusion

verb

Similar: shoulder, tote, trek, walk, bone, ride, shag, copulate with, irk, rile, hike

Translations

Every language

noun mound of earth

中文峰 fēng, 丘陵 qiūlíng
Portuguêsmonte, montículo
Françaisbosse
DeutschHügel
Italianobozzo
Ελληνικάτούμπα, μαγούλα toúmpa, magoúla
Русскийбуго́р bugór, холм xolm

noun deformity of the human back

Españoljoroba, corcova
한국어곱사 gopsa, 곱사등 gopsadeung
日本語瘤 kobu
中文駝背 /驼背 tuóbèi
हिन्दीकूबड़ kūbaṛ
Portuguêscorcunda
Françaisbosse
DeutschBuckel
Italianogobba
Ελληνικάκαμπούρα kampoúra
Românăcocoașă
Русскийгорб gorb
Tiếng Việtbướu
العربيةسَنَام sanām
עבריתגַּבְנוּן gavnún, חֲטוֹטֶרֶת ẖatotéret

noun rounded fleshy mass as in camel's back

Españoljoroba, giba
日本語こぶ kobu
中文駝背 /驼背 tuóbèi, 駝峰 /驼峰 tuófēng, 峰 fēng, 瘤 liú
हिन्दीकोहान kohān, कूबड़ kūbaṛ, डिल्ला ḍillā, कुब्बा kubbā
Kiswahilinundu
Portuguêscorcova
Françaisbosse
DeutschHöcker
Italianogobba, gibbo
Ελληνικάύβος ývos, καμπούρα kampoúra
Românăcocoașă
Русскийгорб gorb
العربيةحَدَبَة ḥadaba, سَنَام sanām
עבריתדַּבֶּשֶׁת dabéshet

noun slang: act of sexual intercourse

Españolcogida, polvo
Portuguêstrepada
Françaissauterie, baise
DeutschBums
Русскийсовокупле́ние sovokuplénije, перепихо́н perepixón

noun bad mood

Portuguêsmau humor
Françaiscafard
Italianopaturnie

noun slang: painfully boorish person

DeutschTrottel, Trampel, Tölpel

verb to rhythmically thrust the pelvis

Españolmontar

verb to bend something into a hump

Françaisarrondir

verb to carry something, especially with some exertion

日本語なんとかして運ぶ nantoka shite hakobu
Françaistrimballer

verb to have sex with

Españolcochar, montarse
Portuguêstrepar
Françaisbaiser, sauter
Deutschbumsen, vögeln, poppen
Русскийтра́хать tráxatʹ, трахаться traxatʹsja

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Cite this
MLA

"hump." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hump. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hump. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hump

Chicago

"hump." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hump.

BibTeX
@misc{hump_2026,
  title = {hump},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hump},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}