clump

[kluhmp] /klʌmp/
noun
1.
a small, close group or cluster, especially of trees or other plants.
2.
a lump or mass.
3.
a heavy, thumping step, sound, etc.
4.
Immunology. a cluster of agglutinated bacteria, red blood cells, etc.
5.
a thick extra sole on a shoe.
verb (used without object)
6.
Also, clomp. to walk heavily and clumsily.
7.
Immunology. to gather or be gathered into clumps; agglutinate.
verb (used with object)
8.
to gather or form into a clump; mass.
Origin
1580-90; akin to Dutch klompe lump, mass, Old English clympre lump of metal
Related forms
clumpy, clumpish, clumplike, adjective
Examples from the web for clump
  • The material in the disk will eventually clump up into nascent planets.
  • It also works because photons happen to be particles called bosons, which can all clump together in the same energy state.
  • Light traveling through the matter clump is warped and distorted, a phenomenon called gravitational lensing.
  • They found that salamander regeneration begins when a clump of cells called a blastema forms at the tip of a lost limb.
  • Harvest leaves from the outside, leaving the center leaves to increase the clump.
  • The church or chapel formed one side of a quadrangle, in the middle of which a large clump of bananas were growing.
  • We tied a rope to a clump of serviceberry bushes and slid down it, leaving the rope in place for our return.
  • It also tends to clump together less than regular couscous.
  • But unlike more familiar metals, such as gold and copper, rare earths don't clump in single-element chunks.
  • As the particles clump together, though, gold's red turns to blue and silver's yellow turns to violet.
British Dictionary definitions for clump

clump

/klʌmp/
noun
1.
a cluster, as of trees or plants
2.
a dull heavy tread or any similar sound
3.
an irregular mass: a clump of hair or earth
4.
an inactive mass of microorganisms, esp a mass of bacteria produced as a result of agglutination
5.
an extra sole on a shoe
6.
(slang) a blow
verb
7.
(intransitive) to walk or tread heavily
8.
to gather or be gathered into clumps, clusters, clots, etc
9.
to cause (bacteria, blood cells, etc) to collect together or (of bacteria, etc) to collect together
10.
(transitive) (slang) to punch (someone)
Derived Forms
clumpy, adjective
clumpiness, noun
Word Origin
Old English clympe; related to Middle Dutch klampe heap of hay, Middle Low German klampeclamp², Swedish klimp small lump
Word Origin and History for clump
n.

1580s, "lump; cluster of trees," from Middle English clompe "a lump" (c.1300), from Dutch klomp "lump, mass," or Middle Low German klumpe "clog, wooden shoe." Old English had clympre "lump, mass of metal."

v.

"to heap or gather in clumps" (transitive), 1824, from clump (n.). Related: Clumped; clumping. Intransitive sense "to form a clump or clumps" is recorded from 1896.

"walk heavily," 1660s, imitative. Related: Clumped; clumping.