thump
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The sound of such a blow.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
thuhmpIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈθʌmp
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The sound of such a blow; a thud.
A blow that produces a muffled sound.
verb
intransitive
To thud or pound.
Make a dull sound
intransitive
To throb with a muffled rhythmic sound.
intransitiveof a rabbit
To hit the ground with the back legs to signal agitation.
transitive
To cause to make a thumping sound.
transitivechiefly uk
To hit (someone or something) as if to make a thump.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The sound of such a blow; a thud.
Used this way, thump is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A heavy dull sound (as made by impact of heavy objects).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Beat out a rhythm.
A noisy and vigorous or ranting public speaker.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.