murmur
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmɜː.mə(ɹ)/
ipa: /ˈmɝ.mɚ/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mə(ɹ)
Forms: form: murmurs
Etymology: From Middle English murmur, murmor, murmour, from Old French murmure (modern French murmure), from Latin murmur (“murmur, humming, muttering, roaring, growling, rushing etc.”).
Senses: examples: text: The delightful murmur of water running over pebbles is heard a few yards off
ref: 1854, Narrative of a Journey Round the Dead Sea, and in the Bible Lands:
text: 1979: A translation of the Eclogues by Paul Alpers
The windy murmur of the breeze subsides.
glosses: Any low, indistinct sound, like that of running water.
examples: text: A murmur arose from the audience.
text: In the prison of the 'tween decks reigned a darkness pregnant with murmurs. The sentry at the entrance to the hatchway was supposed to "prevent the prisoners from making a noise," but he put a very liberal interpretation upon the clause, and so long as the prisoners refrained from shouting, yelling, and fighting--eccentricities in which they sometimes indulged--he did not disturb them.
ref: 1874, Marcus Clarke, chapter V, in For the Term of His Natural Life:
text: The moment had come for the honeyed word. I lowered my voice to a confidential murmur, but on her inquiring if I had laryngitis raised it again.
ref: 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter XI, in Jeeves in the Offing:
text: [President Trump's firing of a dozen inspectors general] seems to have violated a law requiring that he provide 30 days’ notice, and set off a rare murmur of dissent from Capitol Hill Republicans.
ref: 2025 January 30, Cameron Joseph, “Trump goes to war with the federal workforce”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
glosses: Soft indistinct speech.
topics: cardiology
medicine
sciences
glosses: The sound made by any condition which produces a noisy, or turbulent, flow of blood through the heart.
examples: text: In fear of disease and in the interest of his health man will be muzzled and masked like a vicious dog, and that without any murmur of complaint.
ref: 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress:
text: Since aortic diastolic pressure is higher than pulmonary artery systolic pressure, there is continuous flow into the pulmonary circulation, creating the characteristic continuous ("machinery") murmur, heard best just below the left clavicle.
ref: 2004, Euan A. Ashley, Josef Niebauer, Cardiology Explained:
text: Glossop will return from his afternoon off to find the awful majesty of the Law waiting for him, complete with handcuffs. We can hardly expect him to accept an exemplary sentence without a murmur, so his first move will be to establish his innocence by revealing all.
ref: 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter XX, in Jeeves in the Offing:
glosses: A muttered complaint or protest; the expression of dissatisfaction in a low muttering voice; any expression of complaint or discontent.
Synonyms: word: murmur
word: murmuration
word: susurration
word: susurrus
Hypernyms: word: sound
Hyponyms: word: subvocalization
word: whispering
word: babble
word: mumblage
word: muttering
Derived terms: heart murmur
murmurish
Still's murmur
without a murmur
Related terms: word: humming