Hum-strum, subs. (old).—See quot.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Humstrum, a musical instrument made of a mopstick, a bladder, and some pack-thread, thence also called bladder and string, and hurdy gurdy; it is played on like a violin, which is sometimes ludicrously called a humstrum; sometimes instead of a bladder, a tin canister is used.
Hunch, verb. (old: now colloquial).—To jostle; to shove; to squeeze. For synonyms, see Ramp.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hunch, to justle, or thrust.
1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, Pt. III., App., ch. iii. Then Jack’s friends began to hunch and push one another.
1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial. 1. I was hunched up in a hackney-coach with three country acquaintance.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1847. Porter, Quarter Race, etc., p. 163. I hadn’t fairly got to sleep before the old ’oman hunched me.
Hung. See Well-hung.
To be hung up, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To come to a standstill; to be in a fix.