clump
pronunciation
How to pronounce clump in British English:
UK [klʌmp]
How to pronounce clump in American English:
US [klʌmp]
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- Noun:
- a grouping of a number of similar things
- a compact mass
- a heavy dull sound (as made by impact of heavy objects)
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- Verb:
- make or move along with a sound as of a horse's hooves striking the ground
- come together as in a cluster or flock
- walk clumsily
- gather or cause to gather into a cluster
Word Origin
- 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."
- clump (v.2)
- "walk heavily," 1660s, imitative. Related: Clumped; clumping.
- clump (v.1)
- "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.
Example
- 1. Babul said the dark matter clump has recently been detected by other ground-based telescopes , leaving him confident that it does , in fact , exist .
- 2. She opened the washer and grabbed a large clump of cold , wet clothes . Holding them against her chest with one hand , she bent and opened the dryer door with the other .
- 3. It was in the centre of abell 520 that they noticed a clump of dark matter that appeared to be left over from the colliding galaxy clusters , even though prevailing wisdom about dark matter suggested that should not happen .
- 4. Due to its own gravitational pull , the cloud behind to collapse inward , and as it shrinks , it spins more and more quickly , with the outer parts becoming a disk while the innermost parts become a roughly spherical clump .
- 5. Dr. sacktor is one of hundreds of researchers trying to answer a question that has dumbfounded thinkers since the beginning of modern inquiry : how on earth can a clump of tissue possibly capture and store everything - poems , emotional reactions , locations of favorite bars , distant childhood scenes ?