mmmph.

n.  a grumpy mumble.

<“Mmmph, what time is it?” groaned Avanelle.  —June Rae Wood, Turtle on a Fence Post.>

n.  a grunt of exertion, as when hefting a heavy, lifeless body over one’s shoulder in the comic strip “PvP” by Scott R. Kurtz; see also hnnng, nnnnggghh.


n.  a muffled word, as spoken through a covered mouth.

<“Mmmph mmmph, you mmmph!” she mmmphed, one eye above his hand filling with anger while the other eye retained its terror.  He hoped she wasn’t saying the unmaidlike thing he feared she was saying; it would be detrimental to her image.  —Piers Anthony, Castle Roogna.>

n.  a sound of disgust, as when spitting out food.

<“Mmmph!” you say, spitting the food out.  “Tastes like rotten fish!”  —Josh McDowell, Josh McDowell’s One Year Book of Youth Devotions.>

n.  a strangled sound.

<“I think she might be involved in his murder.”  “Mmmph.”  It was a strangled sound, as if she had had to swallow a lot and was ready to cough it back up.  —Julie Smith, New Orleans Mourning.>

n.  a stretching yawn.

<“Mmmph?”  Emil mumbled with a yawn, blinking his eyes to get them focused.  —Quinn Logan, “First Time For Everything.”>

- END OF PREVIEW - To read more, see the "Search Inside" feature at Amazon.com