clump

CEFRC1

/klʌmp/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A group of things gathered closely together.

  2. 02

    verb

    To gather or stick together in a group.

Examples

  • At the top, there was a clump of trees.

  • Benedito raised an eyebrow as his billy goat sniffed curiously at a clump of rocks.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A dull thud.

  2. A thick group or bunch, especially of bushes or hair.

  3. A cluster or lump; an unshaped piece or mass.

More examples

In context

  • There are suitable clumps of gorse a little way back, sir. I anticipate that you would be quite safe there, or I would not suggest it, sir.

  • She [Miss Climpson] asks questions which a young man could not put without a blush. She is the angel that rushes in where fools get a clump on the head.

  • Thus, the myths of cinema and syndicated cartoon have served to unite the diverse races far more than the clump of the cricket-ball and the clipped rebukes and laudations of their masters.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

A large blank of wet dirt fell from his boot onto the clean floor.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English clompe, from Old English clymppe, a variant of clympre (“a lump or mass of metal”), from Proto-Germanic *klumpô (“mass, lump, clump; clasp”), from Proto-Indo-European *glembʰ- (“lump, clamp”). Alternatively, possibly from Middle Dutch clompe or Middle Low German klumpe (compare German Klumpen). Doublet of klomp. Cognates include Danish klump (probably from Low German as well). Compare Norwegian Bokmål klump.