n. & v.
n. 1 a rounded protuberance on the back of a camel etc., or as an abnormality on a person's back. 2 a rounded raised mass of earth etc. 3 a mound over which railway vehicles are pushed so as to run by gravity to the required place in a marshalling yard. 4 a critical point in an undertaking, ordeal, etc. 5 (prec. by the) Brit. sl. a fit of depression or vexation (it gives me the hump).
v.tr. 1 a (often foll. by about) colloq. lift or carry (heavy objects etc.) with difficulty. b esp. Austral. hoist up, shoulder (one's pack etc.). 2 make hump-shaped. 3 annoy, depress. 4 coarse sl. have sexual intercourse with. °In sense 4 usually considered a taboo word. hump bridge = humpback bridge. live on one's hump colloq. be self-sufficient. over the hump over the worst; well begun. humped adj. humpless adj.
[ 17th c.: perh. rel. to LG humpel hump, LG humpe, Du. homp lump, hunk (of bread) ]