lump
/lʌmp/ noun, verb
Also a form of limp
Forms lumps lumping lumped
- noun Something that protrudes, sticks out, or sticks together; a cluster or blob; a mound or mass of no particular shape. “Stir the gravy until there are no more lumps.”
- noun A swelling or nodule of tissue under the skin or in an internal part of the body. “Lumps in the breasts are an indicator of breast cancer.”
- noun A group, set, or unit. “The money arrived all at once as one big lump sum payment.”
- noun A small, shaped mass of sugar, typically about a teaspoonful. “Do you want one lump or two with your coffee?”
- noun A dull or lazy person. “Don't just sit there like a lump.”
- noun A fat person.
- noun (informal, as plural) A beating or verbal abuse. “He's taken his lumps over the years.”
- noun A projection beneath the breech end of a gun barrel.
- verb (transitive) To treat as a single unit; to group together in a casual or chaotic manner (as if forming an ill-defined lump of the items). “People tend to lump turtles and tortoises together, when in fact they are different creatures.”
- verb (transitive) To bear (a heavy or awkward burden); to carry (something unwieldy) from one place to another.
- verb (transitive) To burden (someone) with an undesired task or responsibility.
- verb (transitive, slang) To hit or strike (a person).
- verb (intransitive) To form a lump or lumps.
Synonyms
ball clod glob clump chunk swelling puffiness lout stumblebum goon oaf lubber lummox gawk hunk collocate
Etymology
From Middle English lumpe, from a Germanic base akin to Proto-Germanic *limpaną (“to glide, go, hang loosely”). Compare Dutch lomp (“rag”), German Low German Lump (“rag”), German Lumpen (“rag”) and Lump (“ragamuffin”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A small mass of matter of irregular shape; an irregular or shapeless mass; as, a lump of coal; a lump of iron ore. " A lump of cheese." Piers Plowman. " This lump of clay." Shak.
- noun A mass or aggregation of things.
- verb To throw into a mass; to unite in a body or sum without distinction of particulars.
- verb To take in the gross; to speak of collectively.
Etymology [Cf. OD. lompe piece, mass. Cf. Lunch.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lump”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details