hum and haw
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You can’t constantly hum and haw your chances or you’ll just never get out of that paralysis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2021
Come now, my friend," was Lord Chesterfield's morning adjuration to his author;" come now, cut it short—don't prose—don't hum and haw.
From Biographical Essays by Thomas De Quincey
To hum and haw; to hesitate in speech, also to delay, or be with difficulty brought to consent to any matter or business, HUMS.
From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
You know I'm in the right, and yet, like a cowardly attorney, at the first threat you hum and haw and bethink you about surrender.
From Two Sides of the Face Midwinter Tales by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
Ley began to hum and haw and look uncomfortable.
From Will Weatherhelm The Yarn of an Old Sailor by Archibald Webb
