hum vs thrum

hum

noun
  • An often indistinct sound resembling human humming. 

  • Unpleasant odour. 

  • A phenomenon, or collection of phenomena, involving widespread reports of a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning noise not audible to all people. 

  • Busy activity, like the buzz of a beehive. 

  • A hummed tune, i.e. created orally with lips closed. 

intj
  • Synonym of um: a noise indicating doubt, uncertainty, &c. 

  • Synonym of hmm: a noise indicating thought, consideration, &c. 

verb
  • To produce low sounds which blend continuously 

  • To express by humming. 

  • To reek, smell bad. 

  • To make a sound from the vocal chords without pronouncing any real words, with one's lips closed. 

  • To drone like certain insects naturally do in motion, or sounding similarly 

  • To buzz, be busily active like a beehive 

thrum

noun
  • A thrumming sound; a hum or vibration. 

  • Small pieces of rope yarn used for making mats or mops. 

  • Any short piece of leftover thread or yarn; a tuft or tassel. 

  • A fringe made of such threads. 

  • The ends of the warp threads in a loom which remain unwoven attached to the loom when the web is cut. 

  • A spicy taste; a tang. 

  • A threadlike part of a flower; a stamen. 

  • A tuft, bundle, or fringe of any threadlike structures, as hairs on a leaf, fibers of a root. 

  • A bundle of minute blood vessels, a plexus. 

  • A mat made of canvas and tufts of yarn. 

  • A shove out of place; a small displacement or fault along a seam. 

adj
  • Made of or woven from thrum. 

verb
  • To cause a steady rhythmic vibration, usually by plucking. 

  • To insert short pieces of rope-yarn or spun yarn in. 

  • To make a monotonous drumming noise. 

  • To furnish with thrums; to insert tufts in; to fringe. 

How often have the words hum and thrum occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )