▪ I. lumping, vbl. n.
(ˈlʌmpɪŋ)
[f. lump v.3 + -ing1.]
1. The action of lump v.3 in various senses.
1607 Markham Caval. vii. (1617) 14 It is very good to save the blood..and whilst he bleedes, to stirre it about for lumping. 1757 Monitor No. 96 II. 424 The lumping of characters together, and giving them in such general terms, as convey no distinct and clear idea. 1851 Fraser's Mag. Aug. 144 With..a dryness and lumping in my throat. 1903 Speaker 14 Mar. 576/2 The Committee could object to the ‘lumping’ of votes. |
2. The occupation or business of a ‘lumper’.
1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) III. 289 In order to become acquainted with the system of lumping. |
▪ II. ˈlumping, ppl. a.
[f. lump n.1 or v.3 + ing2.]
† 1. Forming itself into lumps; coagulating.
1751 G. Lavington Enthus. Meth. & Papists iii. (1754) 94 The Blood begins to boil, and the Heat rarefies and disperses the lumping Mass. |
† 2. Weighing heavy. Obs.
13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 620/303 Heore hertes were colde as lumpyng led. |
b. Hence colloq.: Great, big. (Cf. thumping, bouncing, etc.) Formerly often in phr. (now dial.) lumping pennyworth = ‘plenty for one's money’. Also lumping weight, good or full weight.
1705 Hickeringill Priest-cr. ii. viii. 73 But Money is Money..and therefore a lumping peny-worth Priestcraft will afford you, as aforesaid. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iv. vi, Wilt thou purchase it, Nic.? thou shalt have a lumping Pennyworth. 1753 Scots Mag. 330/1 We are not to wonder at the lumping compliments. 1768 G. White Selborne xiii, A full grown mus medius domesticus weighs..one ounce lumping weight. 1825 Bentham Offic. Apt. Maximized, Observ. Peel's Sp. (1830) 16 One lumping assertion there is, upon which the whole strength of his argument rests. 1861 T. A. Trollope La Beata II. xiv. 103 A family group with three or four lumping brats around her. 1881 Clark Russell Ocean Free-Lance II. 30 She should be a lumping boat, to judge by the size of her mainsail. |
c. Of movement: Heavy, clumsy, attended by heavy shocks. Also of the noise produced by such movement.
1884 Reade Gd. Stories 254 There was a lumping noise and a great clatter. |
3. Characterized by putting things together indiscriminately or without regard for detail.
1802–12 Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) I. 435 By lumping charges together, and (after a lumping mass of proof) pronouncing a lumping judgment on the whole mass,—a precedent has been set. 1896 Engineering Mag. XVI. 48 The factory manager accustomed to ‘lumping’ methods of cost-keeping. |
Hence ˈlumpingly adv., heavily and clumsily.
1847 Blackw. Mag. LXI. 741 The canvass flapped against the mast, as the old girl rolled lumpingly in the swell. |