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give someone her lumps

Variant of lump

noun

  1. a solid mass of no special shape, esp. one small enough to be taken up in the hand; hunk
    1. a small cube or oblong piece
    2. such a cube or piece made of sugar crystals bound together with sugar syrup
  2. a swelling or protuberance, as one caused by a blow or formed by a tumor or cyst
    1. Obsolete aggregate or collection
    2. a great mass, amount, number, etc.
  3. a dull, clodlike person
  4. Informal hard blows, punishment, criticism, or the like: usually in or

Origin: ME lompe, lumpe, akin ? to Dan lompe, a mass, lump, Swed dial. lump, a block, stump, MHG lumpe, rag: see limp

adjective

forming or formed into a lump or lumps: lump sugar

transitive verb

  1. to put together in a lump or lumps
  2. to treat or deal with in a mass, or include in one group
  3. to make lumps in

intransitive verb

  1. to become lumpy
  2. to move heavily and laboriously: usually with along
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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