Definition of "harrumph" [harrumph]

• To make a show of clearing one's throat. (verb-intransitive)
• To offer usually brief critical comments: harrumphed for a while over the proposal. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It was sort of a "harrumph," but there was no vocalization, only air."
• "Davies, though clearly parroting out the Labour party line, was much stronger than Duncan, whose fits of giggles and simpering "harrumph" responses were quite cringemaking."
• "Time for what The Landed Underclass calls a "harrumph"."