I. ˈhəmp noun
( -s )
Etymology: akin to Frisian hompe lump, chunk, Dutch homp lump, chunk, Middle Low German hump bump, Old Norse aptr huppr flank of an animal, Norwegian dialect hupp, hump flank of an animal, Latin in cumbere to lie down, Greek kymbē drinking cup, bowl, boat, Sanskrit kumbha pot, Old English hype hip — more at hip
1. : a rounded protuberance: as
a. : the protuberance formed by a crooked back in human beings
b. : a fleshy protuberance on the back of an animal (as a camel, bison, or whale)
2. Britain : a fit of depression or sulking
enough to give anyone the hump to see him now — Samuel Butler †1902
3.
a.
(1) : mound , hummock
(2) : a conspicuous bulge or protruding section of coastline
the hump of Brazil
(3) : a mountain range or mountain that has to be crossed — used chiefly in aeronautics
over the hump from Chile to Buenos Aires
the Himalayan hump
b. : an elevation in a railroad switch yard up one side of which the cars are pushed by an engine and down the other side of which they are switched by gravity to their proper tracks
4.
a. : a difficult, trying, or critical phase (as of an undertaking) — often used in the phrase over the hump
in the production of machine tools the Soviet Union is over the hump — P.E.Mosely
b. : strenuous exertion or effort : go , hustle — often used in the phrases on the hump
my duties keep me pretty much on the hump — New Yorker
and get a hump on
nowadays even ministers of the gospel know how to get a hump on — J.W.Krutch
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to exert (oneself)
last year he had to hump himself and make over a million — Fortune
2. : to make humpbacked : hunch
stood humped with pain — F.B.Gipson
3. chiefly Britain : to put or carry on the back or shoulder
we humped our barracks bags, piled in the wet trucks — H.D.Skidmore
rose at six in the morning to hump coal … to the neighbors' homes — Books of the Month
also : to carry in any way
helped … hump in the crates of beer — Audrey Barker
4. : to sort (freight cars) in a classification yard and assemble in trains by means of a hump
5. : to copulate with — usually considered vulgar
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to exert oneself : hustle , hurry
will have to hump to get through … tomorrow — Richard Bissell
keeps me humping even with three assistants — C.E.Lovejoy
hump along and do your chores — Howard Troyer
b. : to move swiftly or at top speed : race
it's moving southeast and humping toward the north — Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily News
really humping along ahead of that tail wind — Norman Carlisle
2. : to rise in a hump : form a hump
the … highway humps and dips in a manner which discourages fast driving — American Guide Series: Connecticut
humps up to 11,600 feet — A.H.Brown