lump

Etymology

From Middle English lumpe, from a Germanic base akin to Proto-Germanic *limpaną (“to glide, go, hang loosely”). Compare Dutch lomp (“rag”), German Low German Lump (“rag”), German Lumpen (“rag”) and Lump (“ragamuffin”).

noun

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. 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. A group, set, or unit.
   The money arrived all at once as one big lump sum payment.
4. A small, shaped mass of sugar, typically about a teaspoonful.
   Do you want one lump or two with your coffee?
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." 1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 7
6. A fat person.
7. (informal, as plural) A 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. 1994, Robert J. McMahon, The cold war on the periphery: the United States, India, and Pakistan, page 323
8. A projection beneath the breech end of a gun barrel.
9. A kind of fish, the lumpsucker.
   You roast him [the fish] […] just like a lump. 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard
10. (obsolete, slang) Food 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? […]” 1923, Arthur Preston Hankins, chapter 12, in Cole of Spyglass Mountain, New York: Grosset & Dunlap

verb

1. (transitive) 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.
   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. 24 February 2015, Daniel Taylor, “Luis Suárez strikes twice as Barcelona teach Manchester City a lesson”, in The Guardian (London)
2. (transitive) 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. 1876, Belgravia, volume 30, page 131
   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 1999, Alf Goldberg, World's End for Sir Oswald: Portraits of Working-class Life in Pre-war London, Book Guild
3. (transitive) To burden (someone) with an undesired task or responsibility.
   The Luftwaffe, at this point, was still refusing to play ball completely, however. But someone decided to lump Adolf Galland with command of the air operation, and he decided to work with Luftflotte 3, mobilizing their training units to make up the numbers, since large numbers of that particular formation's fighters had been diverted to the campaign in Russia, which was why the fighter numbers were so much lower than they had been the previous year. 9 January 2019, Drachinifel, 15:17 from the start, in The Channel Dash / Operation Cerberus - How to win through refuge in audacity, archived from the original on 2022-07-24
4. (transitive, slang) To hit or strike (a person).
   If that's the only way you can fight, then you'd better be prepared to get lumped. 1962, Floyd Patterson, Victory Over Myself, page 63
5. (intransitive) To form a lump or lumps.
   Thin the paint with mineral spirits for a medium consistency so that it will not drip or lump. 2004, Creative Gifts: Quick & Easy Projects, page 44