murmur
UK/ˈmɜːmə/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/ˈməːmə/
murmur noun: any low, indistinct sound, like that of running water.
Noun
murmur (countable and uncountable, plural murmurs)
- Any low, indistinct sound, like that of running water.
- The delightful murmur of water running over pebbles is heard a few yards off1854, Narrative of a Journey Round the Dead Sea, and in the Bible Lands
- 1979: A translation of the Eclogues by Paul Alpers
The windy murmur of the breeze subsides.
- Soft indistinct speech.
- A murmur arose from the audience.
- She howl'd aloud, “I am on fire within. / There comes no murmur of reply. / What is it that will take away my sin, / And save me lest I die?”1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Palace of Art”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 154
- The sound made by any condition which produces a noisy, or turbulent, flow of blood through the heart.
- 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.2004, Euan A. Ashley, Josef Niebauer, Cardiology Explained
- A muttered complaint or protest; the expression of dissatisfaction in a low muttering voice; any expression of complaint or discontent.
- 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.1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress
- 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.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC
Verb
murmur (third-person singular simple present murmurs, present participle murmuring, simple past and past participle murmured)
- To grumble; to complain in a low, muttering voice, or express discontent at or against someone or something.
- The Iewes then murmured at him because he sayde: I am that breed which is come doune from heaven.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, John vj:[41]
- And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord.1830, The Book of Mormon
- To speak or make low, indistinguishable noise; to mumble, mutter.
- I couldn't hear the words; he just murmured a lot.
- The bees murmured in the forest. The waves murmured on the shore.
- To say (something) indistinctly, to mutter.
- I […] heard thee murmur tales of iron wars;c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Gabriel murmured a confused reply, and hastened on.1874, Thomas Hardy, chapter 21, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC
murmur meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
murmur in Hindi
- any low, indistinct, continuing sound
- मर्मर marmar, कल-कल kal-kal, बड़बड़ाहट baṛabṛāhaṭ
- heart sound phenomenon
- मर्मर marmar
- muttered complaint or protest
- भिनभिन bhinbhin, भिनभिनाहट bhinbhināhaṭ, कड़मड़ kaṛmaṛ, बड़बड़ाहट baṛabṛāhaṭ, बड़बड़ baṛbaṛ
murmur in Tamil
- to complain or express discontent
- முணுமுணு muṇumuṇu
- to speak or make low, indistinguishable noise; to mumble
- முணுமுணு muṇumuṇu
murmur in Urdu
- بڑبڑاہٹ, سرسراہٹ, بڑبڑانا, کڑ کڑانا
murmur in Bengali
- মৃদু গুঞ্জন, বিড়বিড়ানি, মৃদু গুঞ্জন করা
More languagesFewer languages
- murmur in Telugu
- మర్మరము marmaramu
- murmur in Malayalam
- നൊടിയുക noṭiyuka, മുറുമുറുക്കുക muṟumuṟukkuka
- murmur in Kannada
- ಮೆಲುನುಡಿ, ಮೆಲುಮಾತು, ಗುಸುಗುಸು, ಜಿನುಗುವಾತು
- murmur in Sanskrit
- मर्मर marmara
- murmur in Arabic
- لَغَط laḡaṭ, طَبْطَبَة ṭabṭaba, غَمْغَمَ ḡamḡama, تَغَمْغَمَ taḡamḡama
- murmur in Persian
- زمزمه zemzeme, زیر لب گفتن zir-e lab goftan, زمزمه کردن zemzeme kardan
- murmur in Thai
- บ่นพึมพำ, พึมพำ pʉm-pam
- murmur in Vietnamese
- lẩm bẩm, lầm bầm
Examples of murmur in a sentence
- In the prison of the 'tween decks reigned a darkness pregnant with murmurs.1874, Marcus Clarke, chapter V, in For the Term of His Natural Life:
- I lowered my voice to a confidential murmur, but on her inquiring if I had laryngitis raised it again.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
- [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.2025 January 30, Cameron Joseph, “Trump goes to war with the federal workforce”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
- “Oh yes,” he murmured in a tone of obligatory surprise, as he proceeded to make the kind of 2 which he attributed to Margaret's style of chirography.1921, Ben Travers, chapter 7, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
Synonyms of murmur
Antonyms
Forms of murmur
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | murmurs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | murmurs |
| present participle | murmuring |
| past participle | murmured |
| past | murmured |
Origin of murmur
From Middle English murmur, murmor, murmour, from Old French murmure (modern French murmure), from Latin murmur (“murmur, humming, muttering, roaring, growling, rushing etc.”).
Words formed from murmur
Phrases with murmur
Words that rhyme with murmur
Questions about murmur
- What does murmur mean?
- Murmur means any low, indistinct sound, like that of running water.
- What is murmur in Hindi?
- Murmur in Hindi is मर्मर (marmar), कल-कल (kal-kal), बड़बड़ाहट (baṛabṛāhaṭ). See Murmur meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use murmur in a sentence?
- In the prison of the 'tween decks reigned a darkness pregnant with murmurs.
- What part of speech is murmur?
- Murmur can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce murmur?
- Murmur is pronounced /ˈmɜːmə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of murmur?
- The plural of murmur is murmurs.
Words near murmur in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: murmur (page history and authors); murmur (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); murmur (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); మర్మరము (Telugu) (page history and authors); നൊടിയുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); murmur (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); मर्मर (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-murmur.ogg.
Cite this entry: “murmur.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/murmur. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.