Library / English Dictionary

CLUMP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

clump; clunk; thud; thump; thumping

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A grouping of a number of similar things

Example:

a cluster of admirers

Synonyms:

bunch; clump; cluster; clustering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

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 3

Meaning:

A compact mass

Example:

a ball of mud caught him on the shoulder

Synonyms:

ball; chunk; clod; clump; glob; lump

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

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)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Gather or cause to gather into a cluster

Example:

She bunched her fingers into a fist

Synonyms:

bunch; bundle; clump; cluster

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Walk clumsily

Synonyms:

clomp; clump

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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 3

Meaning:

Come together as in a cluster or flock

Example:

The poets constellate in this town every summer

Synonyms:

clump; cluster; constellate; flock

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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 4

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

clop; clump; clunk; plunk

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

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))

Credits

 Context examples: 

While dark matter concentrations have been detected around large- and medium-sized galaxies, much smaller clumps of dark matter have not been found until now.

(Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Find Dark Matter in Small Clumps, NASA)

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

(Immune Hemolytic Anemia, NCI Dictionary)

The study found no evidence of cold turbulent clouds or small dense clumps of cool halo gas.

(Enigmatic radio burst illuminates a galaxy’s tranquil ​halo, ESO)

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

(Erythrocyte Cell Clumps Measurement, NCI Thesaurus)

They then measured the clustering of the galaxies containing both hidden and exposed black holes — the degree to which the objects clump together across the sky.

(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)

A drug that prevents blood cell clumping and enhances the effectiveness of fluorouracil and other chemotherapeutic agents.

(Dipyridamole, NCI Dictionary)

A substance that makes particles (such as bacteria or cells) stick together to form a clump or a mass.

(Agglutinin, NCI Dictionary)

The model suggests that as the ring formed, and the debris slowly moved away from the Red Planet and spread out, it began to clump and eventually formed a moon.

(Does Mars Have Rings? Not Right Now, But Maybe One Day, NASA)

At these temperatures, the clumps emit the bulk of their radiation in the low-energy, submillimeter and infrared light that Herschel was specifically designed to detect.

(Herschel sees budding stars and a giant, strange ring, NASA)

A measurement of red blood cell clumps in a biological specimen.

(Erythrocyte Cell Clumps Measurement, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)