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thump

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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Mid 16th century, probably imitative.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /θʌmp/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌmp
  • Audio (UK):(file)

Noun

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thump (plural thumps)

  1. A blow that produces a muffled sound.
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 1:
      ... and so the universal thump is passed round, and all hands should rub each other’s shoulder-blades, and be content.
    • 1710 January 4 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Richard Steele et al.], “Saturday, December 24, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 111; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume II, London: I. Walker and Co.;  […], 1822, →OCLC:
      The watchman gave so very great a thump at my door last night, that I awakened at the knock.
      The spelling has been modernized.
  2. The sound of such a blow; a thud.
    • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 163:
      An interesting feature of the church is the invisible clock, which you can hear thumping away as you enter. Constructed in 1525, it is one of the oldest timepieces in England. It chimes the hours and the quarters, and every three hours it plays a hymn. But it has no faces.
  3. (dated, colloquial, euphemistic) Used to replace the vulgar or blasphemous element in "what the hell" and similar phrases.
    Where the thump have you been?!

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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thump (third-person singular simple present thumps, present participle thumping, simple past and past participle thumped)

  1. (transitive, chiefly UK) To hit (someone or something) as if to make a thump.
  2. (transitive) To cause to make a thumping sound.
    The cat thumped its tail in irritation.
  3. (intransitive) To thud or pound.
  4. (intransitive) To throb with a muffled rhythmic sound.
    Dance music thumped from the nightclub entrance.
    • 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:
      Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.

Derived terms

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Translations

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