释义 |
▪ I. hump, n.|hʌmp| [This word, with its whole family, is of late appearance, and seems to have taken, c 1680–1720, the place of the earlier crump (crump a.1, n.1). It is first exemplified, 1681, in the comb. hump-backed = the earlier crump-backed. So hump-back, hump-shoulder, -shouldered, corresponding to earlier forms with crump-, are known before hump n., which is not in Phillips-Kersey 1706, Bailey 1721–53. hump v. is of much later appearance. (Humpish in H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1603) L ij b, is an evident misprint for lumpish.) Hump agrees in form with LG. hump, humpe portion, piece, hunk (of anything), Du. homp lump, hunch, thick piece, early mod.Du. hompe fem. ‘pars abscissa’, hompe broods ‘cuneus panis’ (Kilian 1599). But these words always mean a hunch, hunk, lump, or thick piece, cut or broken off something, not a protuberance upon it like ‘hump’. Cf. however LG. humpel, hümpel, height, knoll, knob, hump of a camel, etc. The late appearance of the words in all the langs. leaves the question of their origin and relationship undetermined. See Kluge, s.v. Humpe, Franck, s.v. Homp. The English hump-backed in 1681 might be taken as a mixed form uniting hunch-backed and crump-backed, since these were both in earlier use. (Cf. hunch.)] 1. a. A protuberance on the back or other part of the body, formed by a curved spine or a fleshy excrescence, and occurring as a normal feature in certain animals, as the camel and bison, or as a deformity in man. Also applied to other kinds of protuberances in animal and plant life.
1709Tatler No. 75 ⁋6 The eldest Son of Philip..being born with an Hump-back and very high Nose..These several Defects were mended by succeeding Matches; the Eyes were open'd in the next Generation, and the Hump fell in a Century and half. 1728Morgan Algiers I. iv. 100 The rider sits behind the bunch or hump. a1764Lloyd Cobbler Cripplegate's Let. (R.), Tight stays they find oft end in humps. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 20 The breed of the urus, or those without an hump..the breed of the bison, or the animal with an hump. a1839Praed Poems (1864) I. 199 With a gash beneath his clotted hair, And a hump upon his shoulder. 1839T. Beale Sperm Whale 24 At this point [the sperm whale has] a large prominence of a pyramidal form called the ‘hump’. 1875Bennett & Dyer Sachs' Bot. 20 The thickenings which project outwardly may appear in the form of knots, humps, spines, or ridges. b. A hump-backed person. nonce-use.
1708Motteux Rabelais iv. xlviii. 137, I saw a little Hump [petit bossu] with long Fingers. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lii. 2 In the curule chair a hump sits, Nonius. c. The flesh of a bison's hump used as food. Also, the flesh of the hump of other animals.
1805M. Lewis Jrnl. 13 June in Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Expedition (1904) II. 151 My fare is really sumptuous this evening; buffaloe's humps, tongues and marrow-bones. 1807in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1808) XI. 41 Humps have long been a favourite dish at the splendid entertainments of the great Lords..in India. 1823J. Franklin Narr. Journey Shores Polar Sea 115 The meat [of the buffalo] which covers the spinal processes themselves, after the wig is removed, is next in esteem for its flavour and juiciness, and is more extensively termed the hump by the hunters. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. iv, ‘Yonder!’ cried St. Vrain; ‘fresh hump for supper!’ 1861C. J. Andersson Okavango River 130 Rhinoceros hump was..a frequent and favourite dish of mine. 1863Rhinoceros hump [see rhinoceros 3]. 1909Daily Chron. 5 Jan. 4/7 ‘Humps have arrived.’ So runs the legend in an old-established shop in Green-street, Leicester-square. Ibid., A beef hump. 1913C. Pettman Africanderisms, Hump... A favourite piece with South African housewives for salting. d. to live on one's hump: to be self-sufficient, to operate from resources accumulated earlier: with reference to the camel's hump as a reserve of nourishment.
1909Westm. Gaz. 11 Sept. 7/2 During nearly three weeks in this glorious place I have lived on my own hump. 2. transf. a. A rounded boss of earth, rock, etc.; a hummock.
1838Thirlwall Greece III. 409 The Athenian troops..mounted Epipolæ, and reached the top, where it rises into a rocky hump called Euryelus. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. viii. 58 Climbing vast humps of ice. 1871L. Stephen Playgr. Europe vii. (1894) 158 The rounded dome..forms the southern hump of the Viescherhorn. b. A mound in a railway yard up which vehicles are pushed by an engine and down the other side of which they run by gravity and are switched to the proper track.
1901Railroad Gaz. 4 Jan. 2/1 All that was necessary to take advantage of this mode of distributing cars, was to put a ‘hump’ in the switching track. 1911Encycl. Brit. XXII. 842/1 Another method [of shunting], which was introduced into America from Europe about 1890, is that of the summit or ‘hump’. 1921Daily Mail Yr. Bk. 112/1 The London and South-Western Company has constructed at Feltham a new ‘hump’ marshalling yard. 1955Times 12 July 3/4 They had approved new works at Perth, including the construction of a fully mechanized hump marshalling yard. 1958Times 11 Feb. 15/3 We have carried out development on equipment..for assisting the automatic operation of hump sorting yards. 1971D. J. Smith Discovering Railwayana x. 56 Hump yard, goods yards or sidings worked by gravity shunting methods. c. A mountain barrier high enough to make both land and air travel difficult. Chiefly U.S.
1914Sat. Even. Post 4 Apr. 10/2 There ain't a kid like him this side of the Hump [sc. mountain range in west of N. America]—nor t'other side either. 1931‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 208 ‘Over the hump’ means to cross the mountains to the West Coast. 1936K. Mackenzie Living Rough xv. 216 We're sure a pair of nuts riding the outside over the hump this time of the year. 1944Time 26 June 52/1 They're flying it over ‘The Hump’—the towering Himalayas between India and China. 1970‘B. Mather’ Break in Line v. 64 ‘I think he'll be making for Rangoon, then over the bloody hills to China.’..‘You really expect me to walk over the Hump?’ d. transf. and fig. The critical point (in an undertaking, ordeal, the ascent of a seaplane, etc.), esp. in the phr. over the hump, over the worst, well begun. (Cf. 2 c.) Also, the high point, peak (of a graph, etc.).
1914Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 46 Hump,..the half-way point in a prison sentence. Example: ‘How long have you got yet on your bit? I'm just over the hump.’ 1914Techn. Rep. Advisory Comm. Aeronaut. 1912–13 244 The floats of the flaring bow type require only about half the E.H.P. to surmount the hump. 1922W. R. Inge Lay Thoughts (1926) ii. i. 89 If we look at a chart of the births and deaths in Germany..each war is marked by a peak in the line showing the death rate and a ravine in the line showing the birth rate. But the ravine is followed by a hump..making good the numbers lost. 1929D. Hammett Dain Curse (1930) xxii. 253 Today won't be like yesterday. You're over the hump, and the rest of it's downhill going. 1935P. W. F. Mills Elem. Pract. Flying v. 71 In rising from the normal semi⁓submerged state there is a critical point known as passing the hump, before the reaching of which point the floats are definitely water-bound. After passing the hump the floats very nearly emerge from the water and commence to hydroplane. The time taken to reach the ‘hump’ and the ease with which it is passed, vary greatly. 1938Amer. Speech XIII. 188/2 Once a cocaine addict is over the hump he says he is coasting or in high. 1952Economist 27 Sept. 771/1 The machine tool industry is probably ‘over the hump’ of its..task. 1959Listener 19 Feb. 316/2 Things were very difficult with us that year, and the Americans helped us over the hump. 1960Economist 8 Oct. 135/1 The ‘hump’ in imports that was desired has turned into a steady climb. 1965Listener 16 Dec. 985/1 East German farming is getting over the hump. 3. a. A fit of ill humour or vexation; sulks. Esp. in phr. to give (a person) the hump. slang. (Cf. hump v. 1. Quot. 1727 is of doubtful meaning.)
1727De Foe Protest. Monast. 4 Under many Hardships and Restrictions, many Humps and Grumps. 1873Slang Dict. s.v., A costermonger who was annoyed or distressed about anything would describe himself as having ‘the hump’. 1887F. Gale Game of Cricket viii. 187 So let's alter the law, Without any more jaw, Or you'll give an old buffer the hump. 1897Westm. Gaz. 18 Feb. 1/3 Well, my boy, you've evidently got the hump..but you must give up that sort of thing when I'm here. 1910E. M. Forster Howards End vi. 51 That tune fairly gives me the hump. 1939T. S. Eliot Family Reunion 18 You seem to be wanting to give us all the hump. I must say, this isn't cheerful for Amy's birthday. b. A walk or hike with a load on one's back. (Cf. hump v. 2.) Austral. and N.Z. slang.
1863J. G. Walker Jrnl. 7 Jan. (MS.) 4 It was a precious hump [over the hill for provisions]. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right v, We get a fair share of exercise without a twenty-mile hump on Sundays. 4. to get a hump on, to hurry. (Cf. hump v. 3.) U.S. colloq.
1892Harper's Mag. Feb. 487/2 ‘We went fast enough then.’ ‘We do seem to be gittin' a lettle less hump on oursel's than we did then.’ 1940W. E. Wilson Wabash 231 ‘Let's git a hump on, Allen,’ Abe said; and the two boys dipped their oars deeper into the brown water. 5. Sexual intercourse; hence, a woman who makes herself available for sexual intercourse. coarse slang.
1931G. Irwin Amer. Tramp & Underworld Slang 105 Hump,..sexual intercourse. 1969E. R. Johnson Mongo's back in Town (1970) ii. 18 It might be a good idea to line up a Christmas hump for himself. 1969P. Roth Portnoy's Complaint 134 Now you want to treat me like I'm nothing but some hump. 1970‘D. Craig’ Young Men may Die vi. 48 It was hard to believe she could be more than an ad hoc hump for Lamartine. 6. attrib. and Comb., as hump-curer, hump meat, hump rib; hump-shaped adj. hump speed Aeronaut., the speed of a seaplane or hovercraft at which the drag due to the water is a maximum (cf. quots. 19142, 1935 in sense 2 d). See also hump-back, -backed, -shoulder, -ed.
1807in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1808) XI. 42 A mandate to Calcutta, enjoining the principal hump-curer..to buy up all the humps that could be had. 1834in Oreg. Hist. Soc. Q. (1916) XVII. 126 The tongue, the heart, the marrow bones and the hump ribs is all they use when meat is plenty. 1836W. Irving Astoria III. 98 The hump meat afforded them a repast fit for an epicure. 1839J. K. Townsend Narr. Rocky Mts. iii. 164 They..appeared to be surveying, with the keenness of morning appetite, the fine ‘hump ribs’ which were roasting before them. 1861G. F. Berkeley Sportsm. W. Prairies xiv. 262, I found that it was the ‘hump-rib’. 1886Pall Mall G. 28 Aug. 13/2 The water is collected on a hump-shaped hill called the Knoll, and descends..to the village. 1915Techn. Rep. Advisory Comm. Aeronaut. 1913–14 369 It was not practicable to fit air-holes to the second step, but it is probable that a slight reduction of power at the ‘hump’ speed could be obtained by this means in smooth water. 1938Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLII. 559 The relative distance and time required to reach hump speed depend largely on the value of the accelerating force at high speeds. 1962New Scientist 24 May 388/1 As a hovercraft accelerates from rest there is a so-called ‘hump-speed’ (about 14–18 knots) above which the drag suddenly drops.
▸ = sleeping policeman at sleeping adj. 1f. Chiefly in pl. Cf. road hump n. at road n. Additions, speed hump n. at speed n. Additions.
1924Times 12 Sept. 12/4 Road hogs would soon tire of the bump and possible damage to springs resulting from crossing such a ‘hump’ at speed. 1980Washington Post (Nexis) 10 Oct. c10 Nine humps will be built into the one-mile stretch of roadway that runs between Massachusets Avenue and River Road. 2000Transport Matters (Greater Manchester Transportation Unit) Spring 5/3 ‘Traffic calming’ features include raised tables in roads with bus routes, round-topped humps on other roads, coloured markings to ‘squeeze’ drivers out of pedestrian areas.
▸ hump day n. (also with capital initials) N. Amer. colloq. the day marking the midpoint of a period of work; spec. (in the context of the standard working week) Wednesday.
1959Long Beach (Calif.) Press Telegram 27 Feb. b2/5 The high light of any patrol..is *Hump Day... ‘That's the day the patrol is half over, when the rest of the way is downhill.’ 1965Lincoln (Nebraska) Star 6 Oct. 18/4 Happy ‘hump’ day... It's Wednesday and the week is half over. 2004Time Out N.Y. 1 Jan. 66/2 MC La Reine and DJ Nova brighten up your hump day with a house and trance session. ▪ II. hump, v. [f. hump n.] 1. a. trans. To make humped or hump-shaped; to hunch. (Also with up.) to hump the back (fig.), to show vexation or sulkiness.
1840Marryat Poor Jack xxii, It got into a dark corner, growling and humping its back. 1881C. M. Yonge Lads & Lasses Langley ii. 67 Frank had been used to hump up his back, and put his head on his arms and be comfortable. 1884J. G. Bourke Snake Dance Moquis xxvi. 288 The cats humped themselves in readiness for hostilities. 1889Spectator 14 Dec. 851/1 She..tumbles her ringlets over her eyes, humps her back, and makes her shoulders look sulky. 1895Crockett Cleg Kelly xxiii, Sal humped up the shoulder..and turned sharply away from him. b. absol.
1884Stockton Lady or Tiger? etc. 108 He [the racoon]..come a humpin' inter the house. 1885G. Meredith Diana III. iv. 79 Danvers humped, femininely injured by the notice of it. c. trans. To round (a surface).
1878J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. VI. 734/2 The ‘humping’ or rounding of scissors. d. transf. of inanimate things.
1901‘Linesman’ Words by Eyewitness (1902) 168 With the berg humping its mighty shoulders far behind them. 2. To hoist or carry (a bundle) upon the back: chiefly to hump one's swag (bluey, drum), to shoulder one's bundle. Also more generally, to carry or shift (a heavy object), not necessarily upon the back, and to hump it. See also bluey n. Chiefly Austral. and N.Z. slang.
1853W. Howitt Two Years Victoria xiii. (1855) I. 226 He ‘humped his swag’, in diggers' phrase, that is, shouldered his pack. 1863J. Goldie 3rd Diary 19 Feb. in J. H. Beattie Pioneers explore Otago (1947) 147 Digger custom, we humped our swag containing our house, our bed, our grub. 1863J. G. Walker Jrnl. Mar. (MS.) 4 Humping it over from the Tiviot on our backs would not do as it was too hard work. 1864J. C. Richmond Let. 12 May in Richmond-Atkinson Pap. II. 111 It is very hard work humping your blankets and tucker. 1865E. R. Chudleigh Diary 16 July (1950) 193 Humping all their belonging with them. 1866B. L. Farjeon Shadows on Snow 66 [Diggers]. The best thing we can do..is to try and hump it back again tomorrow. 1888Boldrewood Robbery under Arms i. xi. 142 We put it up roughly..with pine saplings. The drawing in was the worst, for we had to ‘hump’ the most of them ourselves. 1897Westm. Gaz. 7 Aug. 1/3 He humped his load up country a bit. 1916‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin xii. 218 We'll have to hump the whole bloomin' lot out again, damn an' blast him! 1922T. E. Lawrence Let. 7 Sept. (1938) 365, I went off to hump their swill to the camp pigs. 1924― Let. 20 Jan. (1938) 456 If it is the best I can do with a pen, then it's better for me to hump a rifle or spade about. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 122 To hump, to lift, to carry. Ibid., To hump it, to march with full kit, to tramp on foot. 1955M. Gilbert Sky High viii. 112 Couldn't you hump around the heavy lectern vases. 1960Sunday Express 6 Mar. 8/4 He..tugged out a suitcase containing his full-dress uniform, humped it across the pavement. 1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 78, I followed behind him, humping the wireless set. 1971N.Z. Listener 22 Mar. 13/1 He's humpin' a haversack. 1973C. Bonington Next Horizon xii. 171 John and Dougal took the lead, while Layton and I followed, humping loads... I humped my big rucksack, taking the occasional photograph. 3. a. refl. To gather oneself together for an effort; to exert oneself, make an effort; to hurry; also, to pride or fancy oneself. Also intr. (for refl.) orig. and chiefly U.S. slang.
1835in W. T. Porter Big Bear etc. (1847) 126 (Farmer) He was breathin' sorter hard, his eye set on the Governor, humpin' himself on politics. 1883Philad. Times 15 Aug. (Cent.), Col. Burns said, ‘Now you all watch that critter hump himself’. 1884‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xxix. 307, I never hunted for no back streets, but humped it straight through the main one. 1895Daily News 26 Sept. 4/7 When the weather of St. Andrews ‘humps itself’ it can equal the feats of the weather in Montana. 1897Chicago Advance 25 Feb. 263/1 Grit makes the man, the lack of it the chump; Therefore, young man, take hold, hang on and hump. 1906D. Coke Bending of Twig iv. 71 ‘We shall have to hump ourselves for call-over,’ he said..as they dashed up the hill. 1908G. H. Lorimer Jack Spurlock i. 9 He..said to the cop on guard, ‘One of them Ha'voids [= Harvard students],’ and to me, ‘Hump yourself.’ 1928‘Sapper’ Female of Species ii, Peter—your Sunbeam, and hump yourself. Ibid. xiv, That finger will connect with the trigger and the result will connect with you. So, hump yourself. 1968M. Woodhouse Rock Baby vi. 48, I..humped myself into my coat. b. In extended use.
1905Smart Set Sept. 117/1 You'll have to get this machine to hump it all she knows. 1929J. B. Priestley Good Companions i. i. 3 As you look down on Bruddersford, you feel..that it is only biding its time, that it will hump its way through somehow. 4. trans. To give (one) ‘the hump’: see prec. 3.
1840Thackeray Paris Sketch-bk., On some fashionable French novels (ed. 2) I. 177 Did he not hump me prodigiously, by letting fall a goblet, after Cellini? 1898A. Beardsley Let. 16 Jan. (1971) 427 Letter writing humps me dreadfully. 5. trans. and intr. To have sexual intercourse (with). coarse slang.
1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Hump, to hump, once a fashionable word for copulation. 1931G. Irwin Amer. Tramp & Underworld Slang 105 Hump, to have intercourse. Ibid. 263 In 1914–1918..hump and niggle were used of both sexes, screw and shag were operatively male. 1961J. Heller Catch-22 (1962) xiii. 131 The girls had shelter and food for as long as they wanted to stay. All they had to do in return was hump any of the men who asked them to. 1962J. Baldwin Another Country (1963) i. i. 14 A nigger..lives his whole life, lives and dies according to a beat... He humps to that beat and the baby he throws up in there..comes out nine months later like a goddamn tambourine. 1965M. Bradbury Stepping Westward vii. 345 Story is he humped the faculty wives in alphabetical order. 1971W. Hanley Blue Dreams vii. 90 Gazing at her, the hem of her skirt pushed by the attitude of her dazzling legs far back along her thighs, he thought, Jesus, what would it be like to hump her? Hence humping |ˈhʌmpɪŋ|.
1878[see 1 c]. 1896Sir E. M. Thompson in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Ser. ii. XVI. 215 A humping of the shoulders or back to a degree that almost amounts to deformity. |