hump

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a rounded raised mass, bulge, or protuberance, including the raised part of a camel's back

   The camel stores fat, not water, in its hump.

2. 2
   verb

   to bend or raise the back into a rounded shape

   The cat began to hump its back when the dog approached.

3. 3
   verb

   informal: to carry or move something heavy with effort

   We had to hump the equipment up three flights of stairs.

4. 4
   verb

   vulgar slang: to have sexual intercourse with someone

   The crude character boasted that he wanted to hump everyone he met.

Simplified etymology

Hump appeared in the early 18th century, after humpbacked, and is probably related to Low German humpe, “hump,” and Dutch homp, “lump” or “hunk of bread.” Its former sense “complaint,” found in the phrase humps and grumps, gave rise to get the hump.

Probably borrowed from Dutch homp ('lump, chunk') or a related Middle Low German word for a heap, hill, or thick piece, ultimately of Germanic origin. The verb senses developed from the shape or effort associated with a hump: arching the back, carrying a burden, and, in vulgar slang, thrusting sexually.

Topics

External links

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