um

1. Expression of hesitation, uncertainty or space filler in conversation.

   Um, I don’t know.

   4 more examples

   Let’s see... um... how about this?

   It's a great test of the claims of open-source gurus, who say that a self-motivated community can outcode any team working for a single employer—like, um, Microsoft.

   2002, Newsweek, volume 140, page lxxx

   As the years go by, speech reverts to childhood levels of disfluency, with more pauses, more errors, more repeated words, but even the peak years are not great: up to 8 percent of the average person’s word output consists of meaningless fillers and placeholders like um, uh and er.

   [2007 August 24, William Grimes, “Uh, Lead My Rips: No More Bloopers”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 04 Jan 2013

   Um And I don't know um what to say to the court other than, I don't know how we could get through 1/5 of that.

   2024 June 24, “Baldwin Judge on FIRE!”, in Law of Self Defense, page 2

   Synonyms: er, hmm, uh, eh

2. USDated spelling of mmm.

   "About the same, wherever you go," he agreed. "Um," I said.

   1963, Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle, Dell Publishing Co., Inc., page 65

3. An expression to forcefully call attention to something wrong.

   Um, excuse me!

4. childishAn expression of shocked disapproval used by a child who witnesses forbidden behavior.

   While I was in her room, Sam walked by and said, “Um, I'm telling!” “You're telling what?” I asked. “You're reading Tori's journal,” she said.

   2011, Kimberly Willis Holt, Piper Reed: Clubhouse Queen, page 83

   1 more example

   Mair used to look after Laura. If anyone threatened to tease her, Mair would stand up straight, point her finger at the enemy and shout, 'Um! I'm telling on you!'

   2021, Sarah Strangeways, The Gingerbread House, page 13

present singular third person ums · participle present umming · participle past ummed · past ummed

1. intransitiveTo make the um sound to express uncertainty or hesitancy.

   Meanwhile, in the popular mind umming was simply a bad habit, akin to spitting or picking one’s nose.

   2007, Michael Erard, Um... Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean, page 136

plural ums · alternative ahm · alternative ehm · alternative em · alternative erm · alternative hum · alternative uhm · alternative umm

1. An occurrence of the interjection "um".

   1 more example

   Although Shakespeare refers to “hums and ha’s,” sifting through etiquette manuals and public-speaking guides turns up scant evidence of a prohibition against ums, ers and uhs, which are profuse in the first recording of Thomas Edison’s voice, in 1888. Mr. Erard, rather ingeniously, traces the prohibition on um and other speech flaws to the advent of radio in the early 1920s.

   2007 August 24, William Grimes, “Uh, Lead My Rips: No More Bloopers”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 04 Jan 2013

1. datedhumorousoffensiveoftensometimesAn undifferentiated determiner or article; a miscellaneous linking word, or filler with nonspecific meaning; representation of broken English stereotypically or comically attributed to Native Americans.

   Me be Injun. Him um Growling Bear. Him um heap big chief.

   1 more example

   “me heap brave—me talk to um white man so[…] me good injun, like um white man, mebbe so, ugh!”

   1871, “Grand camp meeting on Bear River”, in The Keepapitchinin, volume III, page 3

1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of University of Miami.
2. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of University of Michigan.

   Synonyms: UMich, Michigan

plural UMs

1. abbreviationinitialismhobbiesInitialism of unmounted mint.

1. A surname from Korean.