lump

lump

I

lump¹ S2 /lʌmp/ noun [countable]
1. a small piece of something solid, without a particular shape:
    Strain the custard to remove lumps.
    lump of
    Melt a lump of butter in your frying-pan.
2. a small hard swollen area that sticks out from someone’s skin or grows in their body, usually because of an illness:
    You should never ignore a breast lump.
3. a small square block of sugar:
    One lump or two?
4. a lump in/to sb’s throat a feeling that you want to cry:
    There was a lump in her throat as she gazed at the child.
5. take your lumps American English informal to accept the bad things that happen and not let them affect you:
    According to experts, the company took its lumps but is on the road to profitability.
6. British English spoken someone who is stupid or clumsy:
    He’s a big fat lump.
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ piece an amount of something that has been cut or separated from the main part: Could I have another piece of cake? | a piece of broken glass | Emma cut the pie into eight pieces.
   ▪ bit a piece. Bit is more informal than piece and is often used about smaller pieces: The notes were written on bits of paper. | He threw a bit of wood onto the fire.
   ▪ lump a small piece of something solid or firm that does not have a regular shape: two lumps of sugar | a lump of coal | a lump of clay
   ▪ scrap a small piece of paper, cloth etc that is no longer needed: I wrote the phone number on a scrap of paper. | The dog was eating scraps of food off the floor.
   ▪ strip a long narrow piece of cloth, paper etc: a strip of cloth | The leather had been cut into strips.
   ▪ sheet a thin flat piece of something such as paper, glass, or metal: a blank sheet of paper | a sheet of aluminium
   ▪ slice a thin flat piece of bread, cake, meat etc cut from a larger piece: a slice of pizza | Cut the tomatoes into thin slices.
   ▪ chunk a piece of something solid that does not have a regular shape – used especially about food, rock, or metal: The fruit was cut into large chunks. | a chunk of bread
   ▪ hunk a large piece with rough edges, which has been cut or has broken off a bigger piece of food, rock etc: a big hunk of cheese | hunks of concrete
   ▪ block a piece of something solid, which has straight sides: concrete blocks | a block of cheese | a block of ice
   ▪ slab a thick flat piece of stone, or of cake, meat etc: The floor had been made from stone slabs. | a slab of beef
   ▪ cube a piece that has six square sides – used especially about food: a cube of sugar | ice cubes
   ▪ wedge a piece that has a thick end and a pointed end, and is shaped like a triangle – used especially about food and metal: a wedge of cheese
   ▪ bar a block of soap, chocolate, candy, or metal, which has straight sides: a chocolate bar | a bar of soap | gold bars worth more than £26 million
   ▪ rasher British English a slice of bacon: I usually have two rashers of bacon for breakfast.

II

lump² verb [transitive]
1. lump it informal to accept a situation or decision you do not like because you cannot change it:
    They’ve been told: take the lower interest rate, or lump it.
    It’s the law so you can like it or lump it.
2. to put two or more different people or things together and consider them as a single group, sometimes wrongly
    lump something together
    You can’t lump the symptoms together and blame them all on stress.
    lump somebody/something in with somebody/something
    The danger is that people who pay their bills on time will be lumped in with those that don’t.