lump
1a piece or mass of solid matter without regular shape or of no particular shape: a lump of coal.
a protuberance or swelling: a blow that raised a lump on his head.
an aggregation, collection, or mass; clump: All the articles were piled in a great lump.
Also called lump of sugar . a small block of granulated sugar, designed for sweetening hot coffee, tea, etc.: How many lumps do you take in your coffee?
the greater part or number; a large number: The great lump of voters are still undecided.
lumps, Informal. harsh criticism, punishment, or defeat: The new theory came in for some lumps when other scholars heard of it.
Informal. a heavy, clumsy, and usually stupid person.
in the form of a lump or lumps: lump sugar.
made up of a number of items taken together; not separated or considered separately: The debts were paid in one lump sum.
to unite into one aggregation, collection, or mass (often followed by together): We lumped the reds and blues together.
to deal with, handle, consider, etc., in the lump or mass: to lump unrelated matters indiscriminately.
to make into a lump or lumps: to lump dough before shaping it into loaves.
to raise into or cover with lumps: a plow lumping the moist earth.
to form or raise a lump or lumps: Stir the gravy so that it doesn't lump.
to move heavily and awkwardly: The big oaf lumped along beside me.
Idioms about lump
get / take one's lumps, to receive or endure hardship, punishment, criticism, etc.: Without its star pitcher, the baseball team will get its lumps today.
Origin of lump
1Other words from lump
- lump·ing·ly, adverb
Other definitions for lump (2 of 2)
to put up with; resign oneself to; accept and endure: If you don't like it, you can lump it.
Origin of lump
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use lump in a sentence
Instead of syncing the three games in any intelligent fashion, everything just feels lumped together.
Call of Duty’s merged world has everything a player could want. Except logic. | Mike Hume | December 18, 2020 | Washington PostIn its pages Martin details the recipes she learned from the Cajun women in her family, from brothy chicken gumbo to lump crab cakes held together with shrimp binder.
As customers and coastlines disappear, a New Orleans chef fights for her community | Dayana Sarkisova | December 17, 2020 | Washington PostAs I wrote here, I do think there’s decent evidence that it helps, though you can quibble about whether lifting heavy weights and doing explosive plyometric drills should or shouldn’t be lumped together in one category.
Nothing about the radiation reveals whether it came from an astronaut or a lump of lead.
The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End | George Musser | October 29, 2020 | Quanta MagazineIn many cases, states were slow to set up their unemployment systems to distribute those weekly payments, which were sometimes disbursed later as one large lump sum.
U.S. economy recoups two-thirds of ground lost in first half of year, but there is still far to go | Rachel Siegel, Andrew Van Dam | October 29, 2020 | Washington Post
They were also stigmatized, lumped in with drug users, gays, and Haitians—all disfavored groups at the time.
The Outrageous Celibacy Requirement for Gay Blood Donors | Jay Michaelson | November 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTheir inchoate fury lumped together anger at same-sex marriage, at foreigners and at “the system.”
Whitman is made to share a chapter, lumped in with Proust, Wilde, and Baudelaire, in which he is allotted a mere paragraph.
John Sutherland‘s Enjoyable Little History of Literature | Malcolm Forbes | November 29, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTStill, Le1f resents being lumped into a single category based not on musical style but sexual orientation.
Don’t Call It Gay Rap: Le1f’s Transition From YouTube to the Main Stage | Caitlin Dickson | August 30, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThus Zawahiri lumped American, Russia, and Israel together as the enemies of Muslims everywhere.
He looked irritably under lumped old quilts, piles of table linen, and cloth-shielded pictures.
Mountain | Clement WoodHe spoke in a brusque tone—as why should he not, since he was addressing an audience he lumped together as just so many crooks?
Children of the Whirlwind | Leroy ScottShe'd be lumped with common or garden palmists and fortune-tellers, I suppose.
The Second Latchkey | Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel WilliamsonIn itself, each critical situation was minor, but lumped together they could add up to failure.
Student Body | Floyd L. WallaceLikewise gowns lumped upon the shoulders, with all the folds drawn across, instead of hanging draperies.
Needlework As Art | Marian Alford
British Dictionary definitions for lump (1 of 2)
/ (lʌmp) /
a small solid mass without definite shape
pathol any small swelling or tumour
a collection of things; aggregate
informal an awkward, heavy, or stupid person
(plural) US informal punishment, defeat, or reverses: he took his lumps
the lump British
self-employed workers in the building trade considered collectively, esp with reference to tax and national insurance evasion
(as modifier): lump labour
(modifier) in the form of a lump or lumps: lump sugar
a lump in one's throat a tight dry feeling in one's throat, usually caused by great emotion
(tr often foll by together) to collect into a mass or group
(intr) to grow into lumps or become lumpy
(tr) to consider as a single group, often without justification
(tr) to make or cause lumps in or on
(intr often foll by along) to move or proceed in a heavy manner
Origin of lump
1British Dictionary definitions for lump (2 of 2)
/ (lʌmp) /
(tr) informal to tolerate or put up with; endure (in the phrase lump it)
Origin of lump
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with lump
In addition to the idiom beginning with lump
- lump in one's throat
also see:
- like it or lump it
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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