CLUMP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does clump mean? 

• CLUMP (noun)
  The noun CLUMP has 3 senses:

1. a grouping of a number of similar things

2. a compact mass

3. a heavy dull sound (as made by impact of heavy objects)

  Familiarity information: CLUMP used as a noun is uncommon.

• CLUMP (verb)
  The verb CLUMP has 4 senses:

1. make or move along with a sound as of a horse's hooves striking the ground

2. come together as in a cluster or flock

3. walk clumsily

4. gather or cause to gather into a cluster

  Familiarity information: CLUMP used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLUMP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A grouping of a number of similar things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

bunch; clump; cluster; clustering

Context example:

a cluster of admirers

Hypernyms ("clump" is a kind of...):

agglomeration (a jumbled collection or mass)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clump"):

knot (a tight cluster of people or things)

swad (a bunch)

tuft; tussock (a bunch of hair or feathers or growing grass)

Instance hyponyms:

Northern Cross (a cluster of 5 bright stars forming a cross in the constellation Cygnus)

Omega Centauri (a global cluster in the constellation Centaurus)

Pleiades (a star cluster in the constellation Taurus)

Derivation:

clump (gather or cause to gather into a cluster)

clump (come together as in a cluster or flock)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A compact mass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

ball; chunk; clod; clump; glob; lump

Context example:

a ball of mud caught him on the shoulder

Hypernyms ("clump" is a kind of...):

agglomeration (a jumbled collection or mass)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clump"):

clot; coagulum (a lump of material formed from the content of a liquid)

gob (a lump of slimy stuff)

clew (a ball of yarn or cord or thread)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A heavy dull sound (as made by impact of heavy objects)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

clump; clunk; thud; thump; thumping

Hypernyms ("clump" is a kind of...):

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Derivation:

clump (make or move along with a sound as of a horse's hooves striking the ground)

• CLUMP (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they clump    ... he / she / it clumps   
Past simple: clumped   
Past participle: clumped   
-ing form: clumping   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make or move along with a sound as of a horse's hooves striking the ground

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

clop; clump; clunk; plunk

Hypernyms (to "clump" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

clump (a heavy dull sound (as made by impact of heavy objects))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Come together as in a cluster or flock

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

clump; cluster; constellate; flock

Context example:

The poets constellate in this town every summer

Hypernyms (to "clump" is one way to...):

assemble; foregather; forgather; gather; meet (collect in one place)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "clump"):

huddle; huddle together (crowd or draw together)

bunch; bunch together; bunch up (form into a bunch)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The crowds clump in the streets

Derivation:

clump (a grouping of a number of similar things)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Walk clumsily

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

clomp; clump

Hypernyms (to "clump" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence examples:

The crowds clump in the streets
The streets clump with crowds

Sense 4

Meaning:

Gather or cause to gather into a cluster

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bunch; bundle; clump; cluster

Context example:

She bunched her fingers into a fist

Hypernyms (to "clump" is one way to...):

form (assume a form or shape)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "clump"):

agglomerate (form into one cluster)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

clump (a grouping of a number of similar things)

 Context examples 

They were combined with a gel like substance, which acted as natural connective tissue — and then injected as a tiny clump under the skin of mice.

(Scientists Create Functioning Kidney Tissue, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The optical data reveal clumps of material that were ejected in the explosion.

("Mini Supernova" Explosion Could Have Big Impact, NASA)

They found there was so much iron and phosphate that the particles coalesced into clumps where these microbes could not get to them.

(Scientists report skyrocketing phyotplankton population in aftermath of Kīlauea eruption, Wikinews)

Some of these troughs have darker material within them, while others are traced by clumps of hills that appear to rise above the surrounding terrain.

(New Horizons Discovers Frozen Plains in the Heart of Pluto’s ‘Heart’, NASA)

It is a large cell with well-defined cytoplasm, a large nucleus with prominent nuclear membrane, distinct nucleoli, and clumped chromatin.

(Immunoblast, NCI Thesaurus)

On the right side of the image is a bright clump of young stars known as NGC 1333, which Spitzer has observed multiple times.

(Spitzer Studies a Stellar Playground With a Long History, NASA)

An activated lymphocyte with a diameter of about 12 micrometers, a nucleus with deep folds or clefts and clumped chromatin.

(Large Cleaved Cell, NCI Thesaurus)

A common characteristic of ALS and frontotemporal dementia is the build-up of clumps of misfolded RNA-binding proteins, including a protein called FUS, in the brain and spinal cord.

(Mechanism behind neuron death in motor neurone disease and frontotemporal dementia discovered, University of Cambridge)

The determination of the amount of leukocyte cell clumps present in a sample.

(Leukocyte Cell Clumps Measurement, NCI Thesaurus)

A condition in which the body’s immune system stops red blood cells from forming or causes them to clump together.

(Autoimmune hemolytic anemia, NCI Dictionary)