nnnn.

n.  a humming sound made while one considers how to describe something (Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Thing) or while one fumbles for words (Sue Grafton, J is for Judgment).

<Ahh.  Nnnn.  She’s a friend of your dad’s.  —Sue Grafton, J is for Judgment.> <[Sheila answered the telephone.]  Nnnn ... hullo?  —Bill Scheft, The Ringer: A Novel.>

n.  a low humming sound, as described in Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy With God in the Busyness of Life by Joanna Weaver.


n.  a moan of pain, as from a blow to the head in Jennifer Government: A Novel by Max Barry.


n.  a sound made by one “overwhelmed” by sleepiness, as in the novel Rich in Love by Josephine Humphreys.


n.  a sound recommended to aid meditation, as discussed in Lymphedema: A Breast Cancer Patient’s Guide to Prevention and Healing by Jeannie Burt; see also mmmm.


n.  Antoinette, as slurred by someone with a pustule-covered tongue in Versailles: A Novel by Kathryn Davis.


n.  the gurgle of someone fighting but ultimately succumbing to a mind probe, as in the novel Fire Warrior by Simon Spurrier.


n.  the keening of a living robot undergoing dental surgery.

<“Nnnn,” it said, the sound emerging from a grill in its forehead.  —Piers Anthony, Prostho Plus.>

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