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lump1 definition

lump (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
  3. 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.
  5. a dull, clodlike person
  6. ☆ Informal hard blows, punishment, criticism, or the like: usually in get (or take) one's lumps or give someone his (or her) lumps

Etymology: 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
lump Idioms

in the lump

in the mass or aggregate; all together

lump in one's throat

a tight feeling in the throat, as from restrained emotion
lump2 definition

lump (lump)

transitive verb

☆ Informal to dislike and have to put up with (something disagreeable) if you don't like it, you can lump it

Etymology: Early ModE, to look sour < ? lump, but infl. by grump, mump

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms lump idiom

lump Synonyms

lump

n.

handful, protuberance, bunch, bump, agglomeration, block, bulk, chunk, piece, portion, section; see also mass 1, part 1.

get (<strong><em>or</em> </strong>take) one's lumps*

be punished, undergo, receive punishment; see suffer 1.

in the lump

amassed, aggregated, collected; see gathered.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

lump Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • leaveneth: Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

Adjective modifier

  • bony: Bunions are bony lumps that develop on the side of the foot at the base of the big toe.

Modifies a noun

  • sum: The simplest is a lump sum payment of the value of the policy.

Noun used with modifier

  • commencement: Paragraph 23 amends the overall ceiling on an individual's total pension commencement lump sums of 25 % of the standard lifetime allowance.

Preposition: in

  • testicle: Testicular cancer normally presents itself as a lump in the testicle.

Preposition: of

  • lard: The rest of the suit required a golf ball size lump of lard to get into!
lump usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

lump quotes

Sure the poet†spewed up a good lump of clotted nonsense at once.

-Dryden,John

The camel's hump is an ugly lump Which well you may see at the Zoo; But uglier yet is the hump we get From having too little to do.

-Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard

Lump the whole thing! Say that the Creator made Italy from designs by Michael Angelo!

-Twain, Mark pseudonym of  Samuel Langhorne Clemens

lump quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"lump." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/lump>

APA Style

lump. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/lump

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