A useful picture: a shapeless solid mass — a piece of something that has no proper form of its own, just a blob you could hold. From there it becomes a swelling under skin, a heaviness in the throat, and the act of shoving different things into one blob.
From the word’s history
From Middle English lumpe, from a Germanic base related to words for something hanging loosely or slack — compare Dutch lomp and German Lumpen, both 'rag'. The family's picture is of a soft, formless, slack mass rather than anything shaped, which is exactly what the modern core still carries.
來自中古英語 lumpe，屬於一個日耳曼語詞族，同族的荷蘭語 lomp、低地德語 Lump 都是「破布」的意思。破布正好說明了這個字的骨架：軟的、鬆垮的、沒有形狀的一團。所以現代英語裡 lump 從來不用來講切得整齊的東西——它天生就是「不成形的一坨」，這個底色從中古英語一路留到今天。
Wiktionary (lump, n.): Middle English lumpe, Germanic base akin to Dutch lomp, German Lumpen 'rag'.
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原始詞典資料16 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
lumpnoun/lʌmp/
- 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."
- 6
A fat person.
- 7
informalA 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.
- 8
A projection beneath the breech end of a gun barrel.
另外 3 個記錄的用法
- 9
A kind of fish, the lumpsucker.
- You roast him [the fish] […] just like a lump.
- 10
obsoleteslangFood 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? […]”
- 11
obsoleteslangThe workhouse.
lumpverb/lʌmp/
- 1
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.
- Most gays don't want to know about us, so lumping us in their support efforts is counter-productive at best.
- 2
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.
- 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
- 3
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.
- 4
slangTo hit or strike (a person).
- If that's the only way you can fight, then you'd better be prepared to get lumped.
- 5
To form a lump or lumps.
- Thin the paint with mineral spirits for a medium consistency so that it will not drip or lump.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。