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lump

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Something that protrudes, sticks out, or sticks together.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

luhmp
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlʌmp

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

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

  2. A group, set, or unit.

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

  4. An awkward stupid person

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

  6. A compact mass

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).

  2. transitive

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

  3. transitive

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

  4. transitiveslang

    To hit or strike (a person).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A group, set, or unit.

Used this way, lump is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Small

lump sugarsmall lump

Large

large lump

Other combinations

lump sumwhole lumpbig lumphard lumpgreat lump

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • lump sumnounCompound term

    A complete payment consisting of a single sum of money.

  • lump sugarnounCompound term

    Refined sugar molded into rectangular shapes convenient as single servings.

  • take one's lumpsverbCompound term

    Suffer the results or consequences of one's behavior or actions.

  • get one's lumpsverbCompound term

    Suffer the results or consequences of one's behavior or actions.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: something that protrudes or sticks out

clump

verb

Sense: to treat as a single unit

clump

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.