lump
Noun
(en noun )
Something that protrudes, sticks out, or sticks together; a cluster or blob; a mound, hill, or group.
- Stir the gravy until there are no more lumps .
- a lump”’ of coal; a ”’lump”’ of clay; a ”’lump of cheese
A group, set, or unit.
- The money arrived all at once as one big lump sum payment.
A small, shaped mass of sugar, typically about a teaspoonful.
- Do you want one lump or two with your coffee?
A dull or lazy person.
- Don’t just sit there like a lump .
(informal, as plural) A beating or verbal abuse.
- He’s taken his lumps over the years.
*
A projection beneath the breech end of a gun barrel.
Derived terms
* lumpectomy
* lump in one’s throat
* lumpy
* lump-sun
Verb
(en verb )
To treat as a single unit; to group together.
- People tend to lump turtles and tortoises together, when in fact they are different creatures.
See also
* take one’s lumps
* lump it
* like it or lump it
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bump
English
Noun
(en noun )
A light blow or jolting collision.
The sound of such a collision.
A protuberance on a level surface.
A swelling on the skin caused by illness or injury.
* Shakespeare
- It had upon its brow / A bump as big as a young cockerel’s stone.
One of the protuberances on the cranium which, in phrenology, are associated with distinct faculties or affections of the mind.
- the bump”’ of veneration; the ”’bump of acquisitiveness
(rowing) The point, in a race in which boats are spaced apart at the start, at which a boat begins to overtake the boat ahead.
The swollen abdomen of a pregnant woman.
(Internet) A post in an Internet forum thread made in order to raise the thread’s profile by returning it to the top of the list of active threads.
A temporary increase in a quantity, as shown in a graph.
- US presidential nominees get a post-convention bump in survey ratings.
(slang) A dose of a drug such as ketamine or cocaine, when snorted recreationally.
The noise made by the bittern; a boom.
A coarse cotton fabric.
A training match for a fighting dog.
Derived terms
* bump and grind
* bump in the road
* bumpity
* bumpy
* fist bump
* razor bump
* speed bump
* things that go bump in the night
Verb
To knock against or run into with a jolt.
To move up or down by a step.
- I bumped the font size up to make my document easier to read.
(Internet) To post in an Internet forum thread in order to raise the thread’s profile by returning it to the top of the list of active threads.
(chemistry, of a superheated liquid) To suddenly boil, causing movement of the vessel and loss of liquid.
* 1916 , Albert Prescott Mathews, Physiological chemistry
- Heat until the liquid bumps , then reduce the heat and continue the boiling for 1½ hours.
To move (a booked passenger) to a later flight because of earlier delays or cancellations.
* 2005 , Lois Jones, EasyJet: the story of Britain’s biggest low-cost airline (page 192)
- Easyjet said the compensation package for passengers bumped off flights was ‘probably the most flawed piece of European legislation in recent years’…
To move the time of a scheduled event.
* 2010 , Nancy Conner, Matthew MacDonald, Office 2010: The Missing Manual , p. 332:
- A colleague emails with news that her 4:30 meeting got bumped to 3:30.
(archaic) To make a loud, heavy, or hollow noise; to boom.
* Dryden
- as a bittern bumps within a reed
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