lump

noun

1. 1

   Something that protrudes, sticks out, or sticks together; a cluster or blob; a mound or mass of no particular shape.

   Stir the gravy until there are no more lumps.

   a lump of coal; a lump of clay; a lump of cheese

2. 2

   A swelling or nodule of tissue under the skin or in an internal part of the body.

   Lumps in the breasts are an indicator of breast cancer.

3. 3

   A group, set, or unit.

   The money arrived all at once as one big lump sum payment.

4. 4

   A small, shaped mass of sugar, typically about a teaspoonful.

   Do you want one lump or two with your coffee?

5. 5

   A dull or lazy person.

   Don't just sit there like a lump.

   "Thou great Norman lump!" he muttered. "If I conjure till Doomsday, I cannot make thee gold."

6. 6

   A fat person.

7. 7

   informalA beating or verbal abuse.

   He's taken his lumps over the years.

   Komer admitted that the United States would probably suffer "short term lumps" as a result of Johnson's brusque decision.

   Mr. Katzenberg is now taking his commensurate lumps, particularly because contributors feel he helped disabuse donors’ concerns about Mr. Biden’s physical state.

8. 8

   A projection beneath the breech end of a gun barrel.

9. 9

   A kind of fish, the lumpsucker.

   You roast him [the fish] […] just like a lump.

10. 10

    obsoleteFood given to a tramp to be eaten on the road.

    “A lump,” explained The Whimperer […] “is wot a kin’ lady slips youse w’en youse batter de back door. If she invites youse in and lets youse t’row yer feet unner de table, it’s a set-down. If she slips youse a lunch in a poiper bag, it’s a lump. See? […]”

11. 11

    obsoleteThe workhouse.

verb

1. 1

   To treat as a single unit; to group together in a casual or chaotic manner (as if forming an ill-defined lump of the items).

   People tend to lump turtles and tortoises together, when in fact they are different creatures.

   Most gays don't want to know about us, so lumping us in their support efforts is counter-productive at best.

   Pellegrini’s decision to operate with both Edin Dzeko and Agüero in attack certainly looks misjudged bearing in mind that the first way to stop Barcelona is usually to try to crowd midfield and restrict space. Yet it would be wrong to lump all the blame on the manager’s tactics.

2. 2

   To bear (a heavy or awkward burden); to carry (something unwieldy) from one place to another.

   Well, a male body was brought to a certain surgeon by a man he had often employed, and the pair lumped it down on the dissecting table, and then the vendor received his money and went.

   I never ceased to be amazed at his prowess at being able to lump two-hundredweight sacks of coal, which seemed as big as he was, up perhaps four flights of narrow stairs

3. 3

   To burden (someone) with an undesired task or responsibility.

4. 4

   slangTo hit or strike (a person).

   If that's the only way you can fight, then you'd better be prepared to get lumped.

5. 5

   To form a lump or lumps.

   Thin the paint with mineral spirits for a medium consistency so that it will not drip or lump.

Forms

plural

lumps

past tense

lumped

past participle

lumped

present participle

lumping

third person singular

lumps