lump

Pronunciation

• IPA ^(key): /lʌmp/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

Singular lump

Plural lumps

Lumps of brown sugar

Legs with unusual lumps

1. (countable) A lump is a small hard part of something smooth, soft, or continuous.

   She felt the lump in her throat getting bigger and becoming even more painful.

   Her mother first discovered the lump in her breast a year ago.

   Add brown sugar and rub well between your fingers, breaking up any lumps of sugar.

   Last week, she received a lump sum payment of more than $250,000, or one year's salary.

2. (countable) A lump is a person who is not active or clever.

   Come on, let's go. Don't be such a lump.

3. If you take your lumps, bad things happen to you.

   He isn't the only member of the organization who has taken his lumps this year.

Synonyms

• piece
• section
• mass
• tumour/tumor
• chunk

Related words

• lumpectomy
• lumpy
• lumpiness

Verb

Plain form lump

Third-person singular lumps

Past tense lumped

Past participle lumped

Present participle lumping

1. To treat different things as the same thing or as part of the same group.

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