harrumph

har·rumph

(hə-rŭmf′)

intr.v. har·rumphed, har·rumph·ing, har·rumphs

1. To make a show of clearing one's throat.

2. To offer usually brief critical comments: harrumphed for a while over the proposal.

[Imitative.]

har·rumph′ n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

harrumph

(həˈrʌmf) or

harumph

(intr) to clear or make the noise of clearing the throat

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

har•rumph

(həˈrʌmf)

v.i.

1. to clear the throat in a self-important way.

2. to express oneself gruffly.

[imitative]

harrumph

Past participle: harrumphed
Gerund: harrumphing

Imperative
harrumph
harrumph

Present
I harrumph
you harrumph
he/she/it harrumphs
we harrumph
you harrumph
they harrumph

Preterite
I harrumphed
you harrumphed
he/she/it harrumphed
we harrumphed
you harrumphed
they harrumphed

Present Continuous
I am harrumphing
you are harrumphing
he/she/it is harrumphing
we are harrumphing
you are harrumphing
they are harrumphing

Present Perfect
I have harrumphed
you have harrumphed
he/she/it has harrumphed
we have harrumphed
you have harrumphed
they have harrumphed

Past Continuous
I was harrumphing
you were harrumphing
he/she/it was harrumphing
we were harrumphing
you were harrumphing
they were harrumphing

Past Perfect
I had harrumphed
you had harrumphed
he/she/it had harrumphed
we had harrumphed
you had harrumphed
they had harrumphed

Future
I will harrumph
you will harrumph
he/she/it will harrumph
we will harrumph
you will harrumph
they will harrumph

Future Perfect
I will have harrumphed
you will have harrumphed
he/she/it will have harrumphed
we will have harrumphed
you will have harrumphed
they will have harrumphed

Future Continuous
I will be harrumphing
you will be harrumphing
he/she/it will be harrumphing
we will be harrumphing
you will be harrumphing
they will be harrumphing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been harrumphing
you have been harrumphing
he/she/it has been harrumphing
we have been harrumphing
you have been harrumphing
they have been harrumphing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been harrumphing
you will have been harrumphing
he/she/it will have been harrumphing
we will have been harrumphing
you will have been harrumphing
they will have been harrumphing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been harrumphing
you had been harrumphing
he/she/it had been harrumphing
we had been harrumphing
you had been harrumphing
they had been harrumphing

Conditional
I would harrumph
you would harrumph
he/she/it would harrumph
we would harrumph
you would harrumph
they would harrumph

Past Conditional
I would have harrumphed
you would have harrumphed
he/she/it would have harrumphed
we would have harrumphed
you would have harrumphed
they would have harrumphed

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Translations

harrumph

vi → sich (laut) räuspern

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Mentioned in ?

harumph

References in periodicals archive ?

To these events, and the further irritations, Pom Pom's response is a defiant 'Harrumph!' until he gets to nursery.

Henn, Sophy: Pom Pom Gets the Grumps

anyone who's had children go through the terrible twos will know only too well that anything can make a toddler go "harrumph".

children's book of the week; Pom Pom Gets The Grumps by Sophie Henn.Puffin, PS10.99 (hardback), PS6.99 (paperback)

The plot is, of course, pretty preposterous - two young bucks, Ferrando and Gugliemo, are persuaded by their cynical older friend Don Alfonso to dupe their devoted fiancees into cheating on them with two mysterious newcomers, simply to prove (harrumph) that womanhood is false and fickle.

Review

"Before I clean up after dinner, I sing Caro Mio Ben," I can already hear myself harrumph to my husband.

Join me in going for an Extraordinary Life

Of course, you harrumph, the detail of the Chilcott Inquiry is far more important than the bed-hopping antics of an overpaid association footballer.

What Tony Blair and John Terry have got in common

Thank you for paying tribute to Barney Frank, a tireless leader for our community ["Harrumph!" January 13].

Thank you, Barney

While purists will harrumph and squawk about the conversion of DSD to PCM, it is inevitable the same thing will happen at the AV receiver with a 1.2a HDMI output when using DSP-based bass management, distance correction, and room-equalization.

Oppp DV-980H ($169): www.oppodigital.com

Fellow Grumpies, join with me in a harrumph over yet another cardfest, yet another excuse to gorge on bad-for-you chocolates and champagne, yet another chance to get on the wrong side of our loved ones.

The day for losing hearts and minds

Something stultifying seems to happen to some writers when they sit down to write An Editorial, Harrumph, Ahem.

Abandon the Cap-E Editorial, all ye who enter here: it's up to you to translate vast amounts of information into opinions the average reader can understand

"Harrumph! I can't eat this giant pea!" the dragon said.

The blue dragon and the giant pea

A good time to remember that an absent-minded "ahem" may signify nothing more than what is politely termed "a frog in one's throat." A good time to note that even the heartiest "harrumph" may signal only a serious case of what is clinically (and impolitely) termed "post-nasal drip."

Froggy days are upon us

"Harrumph, harrumph." You could hear throats clearing all over the dark, elegantly understated interior of the Brown Theater.