I. mur ‧ mur 1 /ˈmɜːmə $ ˈmɜːrmər/ BrE AmE verb
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to say something in a soft quiet voice that is difficult to hear clearly:
‘Well done,’ murmured George.
The girl murmured something polite, and smiled.
Julie turned over and murmured in her sleep.
2 . [intransitive] to make a soft low sound:
The wind murmured through the trees.
3 . [intransitive + against] literary especially British English to complain to friends and people you work with, but not officially
—murmuring noun [uncountable and countable] :
murmurings of discontent
• • •
THESAURUS
■ different ways of saying something
▪ whisper to say something very quietly, using your breath rather than your full voice:
‘Don’t wake the baby,’ Jenny whispered.
▪ mumble to say something quietly without pronouncing the words clearly:
He mumbled his thanks.
▪ mutter to say something quietly, especially when you are annoyed but do not want someone to hear you complaining:
‘This is ridiculous,’ he muttered under his breath.
|
She muttered something about having to go home early.
▪ murmur to say something in a soft slow gentle voice:
She stroked his hair and murmured, ‘Don’t worry. You’ll be all right.’
▪ growl to say something in a low angry voice:
‘As I was saying,’ Lewis growled, ‘it needs to be finished today.’
▪ snarl to say something in a nasty angry way:
‘Get out of my way!’ he snarled.
▪ exclaim to say something suddenly and loudly:
‘How beautiful!’ she exclaimed.
▪ blurt out to suddenly say something without thinking, especially something embarrassing or secret:
It was partly nervousness that had made him blurt out the question.
▪ stammer/stutter to speak with a lot of pauses and repeated sounds, because you have a speech problem, or because you are nervous or excited:
‘I’ll, I’ll only be a m-moment,’ he stammered.
II. murmur 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: murmure , from Latin murmur ]
1 . a soft low sound made by people speaking quietly or a long way away
murmur of
the murmur of voices in the other room
She replied in a low murmur.
murmur of agreement/surprise/regret etc (=one that expresses a particular feeling)
There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd.
2 . a complaint, but not a strong or official complaint
murmur of
There have been murmurs of discontent over the new rules.
3 . do something without a murmur to do something without complaining, especially when this is surprising:
They signed the form without a murmur.
4 . the soft low sound made by water, the wind etc:
the murmur of the little brook
5 . heart murmur an unusual sound made by the heart, which shows that there may be something wrong with it
• • •
THESAURUS
■ a quiet sound
▪ hum a quiet low continuous sound, especially from electrical equipment, traffic, an engine, or people’s conversation:
The only sound was the faint hum of the air-conditioning unit.
|
He could hear the hum of distant traffic.
▪ rustle a continuous quiet sound from papers, leaves, or clothes when they rub together:
She heard the rustle of dried leaves behind her.
|
the rustle of silk dresses
▪ murmur a quiet low continuous sound, especially from people’s voices that are far away:
The murmur of voices died away.
|
They spoke in a low murmur.
▪ rumble a series of long low sounds, especially from big guns, traffic, or ↑ thunder :
I heard a rumble of thunder.
|
the low rumble of a train approaching