lump n.
1. (also lumps) a lot, a large quantity [lumps is 16C; lump late 17C+].
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Garlande of Laurell in Poetical Works I (1873) 390: I am not ladyn of liddyrnes with lumpis . | |
| Life and Death of Gamaliel Ratsey 12: How much is it? sayes Ratsey. Two hundred poundes (sayes the other). I, marrie, quoth Ratsey, such a lumpe I looke for. | |
| ‘A Reprobate Pirat’ Knaves of Spades & Diamonds 86: Thou wicked lumpe of onely sin, and shame. | |
| ‘Satire on Benting’ in Court Satires of the Restoration (1976) 218: Such a lump of whores and fools fell in / My way. | |
| Peregrine Pickle (1964) 333: Though the greatest part of them were painted by his favourite artist, Pallet condemned them all by the lump. | |
| Speed the Plough III iii: I do hope as our landlords have a tightish big lump of the good, they’ll be zo kind hearted as to take a little bit of the bad. | |
| Black-Ey’d Susan III i: You’d never be able to carry that lump of marble in your bosom. – That’s a load would try the strength of a porter. | |
| Shabby Genteel Story (1853) 38: He was [...] one complete lump of affectation. | |
| Adventures of Mr Ledbury I 262: They’re coming here all in a lump, you may depend upon it. | |
| Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 115/1: Whip down thy ‘brass,’ the-irs myne reddy for thee, an’ t’ best player ‘collars’ t’ ‘lump’. | |
| Mord Em’ly 106: ‘Your conversation, Ronicker,’ said Mord Em’ly, ‘w’d be a lump more interestin’ if you knew what you were talkin’ about.’. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Bulletin Reciter 1880-1901 2: He’d land old Chorley for a tidy lump o’ stuff. | |
| ‘Wedlock by Wire’ Sporting Times 6 May 1/3: A kiss by wire’s less satisfying, succulent, and sweet / Than the lip-to-lip variety, by lumps. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Long Good-Bye 54: He opened the drawer and put a bottle and a shot glass on the desk. He poured it full to the brim and knocked it back in one lump. | |
| (con. 1929) in Damon Runyon (1992) 294: I am going for the lump on Blue Larkspur. | |
| (con. 1980) A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun 248: I would be looking at a serious lump of bird if I ever got convicted again. |
2. (Irish) a good size, usu. of a child.
| Thierry and Theodoret I i: The young courser, That unlickt lumpe of mine, will winne thy Mistris. | |
 | A True Widow 11: Enter Lady Cheatly, and Mr. Lump her brother. | |
| Collin’s Walk canto 1 29: Dost thou not see, thou lump of Nature, Thou ill-contrirv’d, unfinish’d Creature, What Ruines this late turn has made, By Taxes, and loss of Trade. | |
| Beau Defeated II iii: Dear Lady Basset revenge me, ridicule that lump of the City till he frets himself into shape. | |
| London Terraefilius II 6: We shall leave the Lump of the Law to look about him for fear of a Serjeant. | |
| Midnight Rambler 37: Well, said the old lump of sin, I have made thee a humming bowl that every draught you take shall make you wish for a sweetheart. | |
| Comical Hist. of Simple John 2: A lump of loun like ill-nature, row’d a’ together, as if she had been nine months in a haggis. | |
| Life of an Actor II i: That Mrs. Landlady is a monstrous pretty little lump of rusticity! | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Legends and Stories 13: As if he was a lump iv a gossoon. | |
| ‘Handy Andy’ Bentley’s Misc. Jan. 22: When Andy grew up to be what in country parlance is called ‘a brave lump of a boy,’ his mother thought he was old enough to do something for himself. | |
| Paddiana I 154: Bessy’s a fine lump of a girl. | |
| Basket of Chips 204: You stuck up lump of conceit. | |
| Knocknagow 487: She was a good-looking lump uv a girl at the time. | |
| ‘The Agricultural Irish Girl’ 🎵 She’s a big, stout, strong, lump of an agricultural Irish girl. | |
| Workingman’s Paradise 12: ‘Well, she’s a big lump of a girl, too,’ [...] ‘Yes, and a vixen with her tongue when she gets started, for all her prim looks.’. | |
| In Bad Company 217: Among ’em was a fine lump of a brown filly, three year old. | |
| [perf. Harry Champion] ‘The Best That Money Can Buy’ 🎵 And oh she was such a love of a lump / I used to call her jelly because / She was so nice and plump. | |
| Ballygullion 242: When I was a lump av a fellow about twelve years av age. | |
| Somewhere in Red Gap 64: I managed to cut that lump of a Chester out of the bunch and hold him on the porch. | |
| Ulysses 604: Fine lump of a woman, all the same. | |
| Travels of Tramp-Royal 261: A big able lump of a woman hands him a clout on the ear. | |
| Happy as Larry Act I: Johnny was / A fine, big, strong, hefty lump / Of a man. | |
| Back to Ballygullion 117: Sukey was as fond of the boys as any lump of a girl is. | |
| Solid Mandala (1976) 47: Yer don’t realize a big lump of a boy like that can turn violent. | |
| Sun. Too Far Away 66: He’s a fair lump of a man. | |
| Conversations on a Homecoming (1986) 58: The antics of his lump of a wife may dramatise it. | |
| Times of our Lives 44: I was a lump of a lad about eight year old. | |
| Sucked In 89: A beefy young lump in a buzz-cut and Cockney-crim pinstripe suit. |
3. (US) a gold coin.
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 29 Sept. 3: We mean to keep a bright lookout for the lumps and leave all other trash behind. | |
| Graham’s Mag. (NY) 50-51 81/1: All the ‘lumps’ and ‘filthy lucre,’ / All the ‘gelt’ . |
4. (US) semen; usu. as blow one’s lump
| Immortalia 121: He was always...ready to spill a lump. | |
| ‘Mae West in “The Hip Flipper”’ [comic strip] in Tijuana Bibles (1997) 97: [of a woman] Lotta was at last ready to toss that lump. | |
| (con. 1927) in Ozark Folksongs and Folklore (1992) II 618: It’s a funny sensation when you blow off your lump. |
5. (US) a parcel of food given to a tramp or vagrant [dial. lump, a luncheon].
| Salt Lake Herald (UT) 24 Dec. 10/5: In this business ye got to cough up yer whole soul jus’ to a get a lump (hand-out). | |
| in Indep. (N.Y.) 19 Dec. 3012: When a Bum goes to a house and gets a lunch they call it Hand out, Lump, Soup, Slop, etc. | |
| My Life in Prison 105: I noticed he had a lump (lunch) with him. | |
| ‘Hobo Memories’ Hobo News Sept. in Stiff Milk and Honey Route (1930) 196: Have you forgotten Angeline, / Who lived behind the dump; / Where you and I in days gone by, / So often scoffed a lump? | |
| You Can’t Win (1927) 67: She’ll give you a sit-down for yourself, chances are, but bring back a ‘lump’ for us. | |
| World to Win 88: The punk blows in and he has mooched a lump. | |
| Nightmare Alley (1947) 252: I’m waiting for another pal of mine. He’s out trying to get a lump. | |
| et al. DAUL 130/2: Lump, n. (Hobo) 1. A handout of food, money or clothing. | |
| World’s Toughest Prison 808: lump – A package of food. | |
| From Bondage 341: And all of two bits’ worth of blessings from a tramp with a crumpled hat who’d got his lumps. |
6. (US) $100.
| Poor Fool 172: ‘How much this time?’ Big John asked. ‘Same lump?’ ‘A lump apiece,’ Salty promised [...] ‘A hundred when?’ Big John wanted to know. |
7. (US) in pl., a beating, punishment, blame or criticism, usu. constructed with a pronoun and give/take/get.
| World I Never Made 219: I don’t want the old man poundin’ lumps all over me. | |
| Tough Guy [ebook] ‘[T]hey kiss our ass now, but they won’t forget who gave ’em the lumps’. | |
| Carlito’s Way 7: We gave as good as we got — but you remember your own lumps better. | |
| The Joy (2015) [ebook] We kicked lumps off them. Quite a few casualties. | |
| Something Fishy (2006) 59: We just had to take our lumps and wait for the tide to turn. | |
| A Steady Rain I i: Rhonda’s had a hard life. [...] Harder than any lumps you know. | |
| on themarshallproject.org 29 Apr. 🌐 Two things get your ass kicked faster than anything: one is making a cop run. If [...] you fucking run and he catches you, you’re gonna take some lumps. |
8. (US campus) a lazy idler, a stupid person [lump v.4 ].
| in Froude Life in London (1884) 224: Oh, what a lazy lump I am! | |
| ‘Even As You & I’ Humoresque 288: I’m a lump – that’s what I am. Nine months of laying. I’m a lump. | |
| ‘Every Other Thursday’ One Basket (1947) 302: Stupid lump! [...] She didn’t do a thing. Not a thing! | |
| Walk in Sun 79: You’ve got no imagination, Rivera. You’re a lump. | |
| Lead With Your Left (1958) 11: The lump was named Anderson and he chewed a wad of gum. | |
| At Night All Cats Are Grey 172: ‘She’s a lazy lump, that one,’ he would say of his mother. | |
| Breaks 73: I asked some bespectacled lump for Franco. | |
| Powder 247: God knows how any creativity exists in you – you’re a fucking lump. | |
| Viva La Madness 191: The lump he’d left guarding the back door [was] under heavy manners. |
9. (US) in pl., the female breasts.
| Tailor and Ansty 181: She hasn’t much of the ‘lumps of temptation’, as Carty the Weaver used to call them. |
10. the head.
| Crust on its Uppers 66: Mrs. Byrd cannot [...] have her tearaway thump us over the lump. |
In phrases
1. (US) to achieve orgasm; usu. of men, but also of women.
| Tale of the Boastful Yak He blew his lump. | |
| Sl. of Venery I 19: Blowing One’s Lump—To achieve emission. | |
| see sense 4 above. | |
| Mother was a Whore [ebook] I’m ready to blow my lump, and I know you are, too. [...] I want your come in me. | |
| Blowing Wild 32: I knew how to make a man blow his lump well enough to make him pay my price. |
2. (US black) to act in the desired manner.
| World to Win 156: It’ll take five or six sessions before she finally blows her lump, but she’ll come across with plenty when she does. |
3. (US black, also blow one’s lumps) to play very energetically; to give full expression to one’s feelings.
| Really the Blues 286: The color line [...] sure got dented some, during the weeks we blew our lumps down there. | |
| Who Live In Shadow (1960) 52: I smoked tea all the time. I blew my lump. I got sent. |
(orig. US) to accept and deal with one’s problems and setbacks, to ‘get one’s deserts’.
| (con. 1900) Behind The Green Lights 35: You can rest assured that the mother-beater got his lumps down in the cellar. | |
| This Is New York 27 Sept. [synd.col.] No more taking ‘my correct lumps’. | |
| Little Sister 232: I just had to take my lumps. | |
| (con. 1940s) Reprieve 198: There is the ever present threat of ‘getting your lumps’, which in official reports is blandly interpreted thus: [...] ‘Upon being apprehended the prisoner became violent and had to be subdued.’. | |
| Teen-Age Mafia 34: Okay, tonight I took my lumps from the Dags. | |
| Felony Tank (1962) 31: If you’re old enough to sneak around in the night and bust into places, you’re goddam well old enough to take your lumps. | |
| Last Exit to Brooklyn 280: He chuckled when the guy got his lumps at the end. | |
| Blind Man with a Pistol (1971) 100: When they weren’t taking lumps from the thugs, they were taking lumps from the commissioners. | |
| (con. WWII) Hollywoodland (1981) 55: Then let them, come out in the open and take their lumps like men. | |
| About Face (1991) 80: How to close with the enemy and destroy him without taking excessive lumps. | |
| N.Y. Times 2 Dec. 4/2: Mr. Thackeray expressed outrage when India banned ‘Satanic Verses,’ arguing that it was a free country and that Muslims should take their lumps like anyone else. | |
| (con. 1964–8) Cold Six Thousand 179: Bury it and ride out all the Commie bullshit, or file and take our lumps. | |
| ‘Unconfirmed Reports’ Wire ser. 5 ep. 2 [TV script] With a Democratic Assembly everyone expects that a GOP governor will take his lumps . | |
| ‘Under the Bus’ in ThugLit Feb. [ebook] [A] hooker was better off taking her lumps than threatening an influential man. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
an absolute fool, an idiot, an incompetent; thus lumpheaded, stupid.
| Penny Press (Cincinnati, OH) 24 Aug. 4/1: Lucy loved Levi [...] Levis lassoed Lucy, Lunkins, legal lumphead, lashed the lovers together. | |
| Sheffield Gloss. 141: Lumphead, a fool, a blockhead. | |
| St Paul Dly Globe (MN) 8 Feb. 6/5: Shut up, you lump-headed Dutchman, or I’ll punch your head. | |
| Topeka State Jrnl (KS) 20 Sept. 9/1: We always thought him the biggest lumphead in the business. | |
| Crump Folk Going Home 290: Everybody knew — everybody, that was, but a daft lumphead — that Rishwald had been much at Crump of late. | |
| Grand Forks Herald (ND) 28 Aug. 6/3: I’ll be blamed if any lump-headed fumbling jackass of a nigger cook is going to shuffle me off with a kettle full of ptomaine bugs. | |
| (con. 1917–18) Through the Wheat 94: You better get down, you lumphead. | |
| (con. 1907) diary in Aaron (1985) 73: Back of the school is a privy. ‘Pud is a lumphead’ [...] and other jocular or obscene quips against the teaching staff are written on the walls. | |
| Horse’s Mouth (1948) 210: About fifty generations of ordinary lumpheads who don’t know a work of art from a public convenience. | |
| Go, Man, Go! 87: He grabbed the grease-gun with ‘You hungry, lump-head?’. | |
| Far Side 64: I stood there like a lumphead, not knowing what to do. | |
| (con. early 20C) Inman Diary 2 73: ‘Pud is a lumphead’ and ‘Pud is a damn Yankee’ and [...] other jocular or obscene quips against the teaching staff . | |
| Deeper Sea 330: Just what he needed, to baby-sit some lumphead too stupid to keep track of his own gam. | |
| Elle 176-8 164//2: Your boyfriend is a loser! Lumphead! Dud! Nincompoop! Floperoo! Washout! |
In phrases
to beat someone up.
| Cop Remembers 308: The negroes tried to put up a fight but the boys took them to the docks where they gave them their lumps, for it looked like a nasty job to me. | |
| I Can Get It For You Wholesale 187: When the time came, I wanted to be in condition to give him his lumps. | |
| (con. 1944) Naked and Dead 15: Maybe I won’t give her some lumps before I kick her out. |
see under soap n.1
(UK Und.) a local prison (i.e. one outside London).
| Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era. |
1. life’s harsh lessons.
| Dealer 26: What the fuck are you gonna learn in twenty years? [...] You got to get your lumps and bumps’. |
2. (Aus. prison) a convict who loses a lot of fights.
| Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Lumps and bumps. Name given to a prisoner who fights a lot but invariably loses in the encounter. |