I. ˈləmp noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English; probably akin to obsolete Dutch lompe piece, lump, Dutch lomp rag, Middle High German lumpe rag, and perhaps to Middle High German lampen to dangle — more at limp
1.
a.
(1) : a compact mass usually of indefinite size and shape
a queer lump of a house — Thomas Hardy
a lump of coal
a lump of sugar
it is a ridge, a high and uneven lump of land — Norman Cousins
(2) : the amount of clay or dough needed for one vessel or one baking
all men's honors lie like one lump before him to be fashioned — Shakespeare
b. : something resembling a lump
everything is technique which is not the lump of experience itself — Mark Schorer
everybody has a lump of loneliness — R.H.Newman
2.
a. obsolete : an aggregation of things : clump
b. : a great amount or quantity
a really nice lump of salvage money — R.S.Porteous
c. : a vast mass or majority
few candidates ever started with such a lump who did not get the nomination — R.L.Strout
the great lump of radio listeners … let it run all day — Atlantic
3. : protuberance , swelling , bump 2a
came to with nothing more than a lump on his head
4. : a thickset heavy person ; specifically : one who is stupid or dull
a hearty lump of a lad — Robertson Davies
5. Britain : a wave raised when a body of water is cut up by the wind
6. Britain : a length of gray goods
7. lumps plural
a. : beatings
he'd taken enough lumps — John & Ward Hawkins
on the back waterways the single small craft takes its lumps — A.W.Baum
b. : comeuppance
self-appointed specialists on women are given their lumps — Brendan Gill
the good guys … were as usual giving the bad guys their lumps — Time
•
- by the lump
- in a lump
- lump in one's throat
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to throw into a mass : group or unite in a body or sum without discrimination : consider as a whole without distinction of the parts
the town harbor is all the northeast coast's little fishing caves … lumped together — Charles Rawlings
promise that you won't lump me with all the rest in there — Louis Auchincloss
lump men together according to degrees of orthodoxy — Barbara Ward
2.
a. : to make into lumps : hill
plowed fields, one of which was lumped up for melon planting — C.A.Murray
b. : to make lumps on or in
his pockets and the front of the shirt were lumped … with various articles — Vincent McHugh
3. : to move noisily and clumsily : sit heavily
lumped his huge bulk down opposite — G.G.Carter
4. : load
did not hesitate to lump coal at Newcastle — I.L.Idriess
intransitive verb
1. : to become formed into lumps
the cushion lumped up into uncomfortable hard wads
2. : to move oneself usually noisily and clumsily : sit down heavily
would loll and lump on the sofa — Harold Nicolson
III. adjective
: consisting of one whole : not divided into parts
pay by agreement a yearly lump sum — G.G.Coulton
300 dollars coming to you in a lump check — Edmund Schiddel
IV. ˈləmp, ˈlu̇mp transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: perhaps from obsolete Dutch lompen to beat, probably from lompe lump
dialect England : to beat severely : thrash
V. ləmp transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: origin unknown
: to put up with or get used to
if you don't like it you can lump it — W.S.Maugham
VI. noun
Britain : nonunion construction workers who work as self-employed subcontractors
lump labour