ahem

English

Alternative forms

• ehem

Pronunciation

• [ʔm.ʔmː] with tense voice; also [mˈm̥m] ; also spelling pronunciation IPA^(key): /əˈhɛm/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (Southern England)

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• Rhymes: -ɛm

Interjection

ahem

1. (onomatopoeia) The sound of a quiet cough or of clearing one's throat.
2. An exclamation or cough to get attention.

   Ahem! Could we please get started?

3. An exclamation of disapproval or annoyance.

   Ahem! In case you didn't notice, I did my share of the work, too.

4. An exclamation to indicate sarcasm.

   I really (ahem!) liked the chocolate broccoli surprise.

Synonyms

• (exclamation to get attention): See Thesaurus:hey
• (expression of disapproval): See Thesaurus:tut tut

Translations

onomatopoeia

• Czech: ehm
• Finnish: kröhöm (fi)
• Greek: γκουχ (el) (gkouch), γκούχου (el) (gkoúchou)
• Japanese: ゴホン (gohon), コホン (kohon), げほげほ (gehogeho)
• Tagalog: ehem, tikhim
• Vietnamese: e hèm (vi)

exclamation or cough to get attention

• Czech: ehm
• Finnish: kröhöm (fi), öhöm
• Japanese: エヘン (ehen)
• Tagalog: tikhim
• Vietnamese: e hèm (vi)

exclamation of disapproval or annoyance

• Finnish: öhöm

exclamation to indicate sarcasm

• Finnish: köh (fi), öhöm

Verb

ahem (third-person singular simple present ahems, present participle ahemming, simple past and past participle ahemmed)

1. To cough or clear one's throat so as to draw attention.
   • 1856, Louise Chandler Moulton, Juno Clifford, page 108:

     He wouldn't have been suspected of crying for the world, but he coughed and ahemmed, and finally turned away without speaking.

   • 1858, The Peninsular and Independent Medical Journal, page 153:

     A full inspiration, preparatory to hawking, ahemming, or premeditated careful coughing, would excite an explosion of an unusually violent and persistent cough, hurrying the breath out of the poor victims.

Anagrams

• HEMA, Hema, Mahé, ah me, haem, haem-, hame, heam, hæm-