1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hums, persons at church; there is a
great number of hums in the autem, there is a great congregation in
the church.
Verb (old).—1. To cheat; to bamboozle; to quiz (q.v.).
1762. Goldsmith, Life of Nash, in Wks., p. 552 (Globe). Here Nash,
if I may be permitted the use of a polite and fashionable phrase,
was humm’d.
1764–1817. J. G. Holman, Abroad and at Home, i., 3. Ser. It is
queer enough that his father, Sir Simon Flourish, should be hummed
so as to think he is going the tour of Europe, when, all the while,
he never got a step farther than St. George’s Fields.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied, iii., 1. Go seek him there: I fear
he’s only humming.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 4. While you hum the poor spoonies with
speeches so pretty.
d. 1840. Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, ii., 153 [ed. 1842]. I don’t mean to
cajole you hither with the expectation of amusement or
entertainment; you and I know better than to hum or be hummed in
that manner.
1856. Elliott, Carolina Sports, p. 122. I hummed him, my stripping
was all a feint.