/ lʌmp; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
a piece of sth hard or solid, usually without a particular shape :
a lump of coal / cheese / wood
This sauce has lumps in it.
2.
( BrE ) = sugar lump :
One lump or two?
3.
a swelling under the skin, sometimes a sign of serious illness :
He was unhurt apart from a lump on his head.
Check your breasts for lumps every month.
4.
( informal , especially BrE ) a heavy, lazy or stupid person
•
IDIOMS
- have, etc. a lump in your throat
- take your lumps
■ verb
[ vn ] lump A and B together | lump A (in) with B to put or consider different things together in the same group :
You can't lump all Asian languages together.
•
IDIOMS
- lump it
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun and verb Middle English : perhaps from a Germanic base meaning shapeless piece ; compare with Danish lump lump, Norwegian and Swedish dialect lump block, log, and Dutch lomp rag.
lump it. late 16th cent. (in the sense look sulky ): symbolic of displeasure; compare with words such as dump and grump . The current sense dates from the early 19th cent.