Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

lumper

American  
[luhm-per] / ˈlʌm pər /

noun

  1. a day laborer employed to handle cargo, as fish or timber.

  2. Biology Informal. a taxonomist who believes that classifications should emphasize similarities among organisms and therefore favors large, inclusive taxa (opposed to splitter).


lumper British  
/ ˈlʌmpə /

noun

  1. a stevedore; docker

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of lumper

1775–85; lump 1 (in v. sense) + -er 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

“I’m very conservative, and I’m a lumper at heart,” he admits.

From National Geographic Feb. 16, 2024

A native of Hawaii, he worked as a lumper at the wholesale produce market but got too old for the physical job.

From Los Angeles Times

That year, the Labor Party formed its first majority government, a cabinet consisting of two miners, a wharf lumper, a building worker, a hatter, a compositor, an engine driver and, of course, Billy Hughes.

From Time Magazine Archive

He was not a splitter, but a lumper, a seeker of deeper anatomy.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Enough for lumper how long? and to keep t'e poys pusy how long?

From The Chainbearer Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts by Cooper, James Fenimore

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training