From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmurmurmur‧mur1 /ˈmɜːmə $ ˈmɜːrmər/ ●○○ verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]SAY to say something in a soft quiet voice that is difficult to hear clearly ‘Well done, ’ murmured George. The girl murmured something polite, and smiled. Julie turned over and murmured in her sleep.► see thesaurus at say2 [intransitive]DNC to make a soft low sound The wind murmured through the trees.3 [intransitive + against] literary especially British EnglishCOMPLAIN to complain to friends and people you work with, but not officially —murmuring noun [countable, uncountable] murmurings of discontent→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
murmur• She heard the priest murmuring a prayer at the front of the church.• I murmured a prayer of thanks.• He didn't murmur a single word of protest.• David woke and heard them murmuring down on the ground floor - the sound of a cocktail party.• He began stroking her hair and gently murmuring her name.• He shook Wynne-Jones who murmured in his sleep, then began to weep.• He murmured something, but she did not catch the words.• The child murmured something in its sleep.• The wind murmured through the trees.murmurmurmur2 noun [countable] 1 CSOUNDa soft low sound made by people speaking quietly or a long way awaymurmur of the murmur of voices in the other room She replied in a low murmur.murmur of agreement/surprise/regret etc (=one that expresses a particular feeling) There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd.► see thesaurus at sound2 COMPLAINa complaint, but not a strong or official complaintmurmur of There have been murmurs of discontent over the new rules.3 → do something without a murmur4 DNCthe soft low sound made by water, the wind etc the murmur of the little brook5 MIC heart murmur an unusual sound made by the heart, which shows that there may be something wrong with itExamples from the Corpus
murmur• Sandy has hold of my lapel in the lightest way, instructing me in a murmur.• There wasn't a murmur of disapproval from the drug testers - all the ingredients were natural and contained no chemical stimulants.• Jan had the radio on in the room above, but it was no more than a murmur.• A murmur of laughter ran through the congregation.• Wagner spoke in a barely audible murmur.• From the library there was a broken murmur of voices, subdued and spasmodic as a funeral gathering.• A dark murmur rose among the diners.• There were excited murmurs as the President entered the hall.• a heart murmur• His throaty little murmurs told of his contentment and enjoyment of the ride.• Sympathetic murmurs greet this delicate reference to her own spinsterhood, and the hunters then move in for the kill.• Audible gasps rose here and there together with short, whispered words and the murmur of anticipation.• The murmur of distant traffic reached us when the wind was in the east.• the murmur of the little brookmurmur of agreement/surprise/regret etc• This caused a murmur of surprise amongst the onlookers.• There was a murmur of surprise and enthusiasm in the hall.• Once again the information that Elisa was living in a pensione provoked murmurs of surprise.• When he spoke, the others confined themselves to murmurs of agreement.Origin murmur2 (1300-1400) French murmure, from Latin murmur 