lumpy, a.
(ˈlʌmpɪ)
[f. lump n.1 + -y1.]
1. a. Full of lumps.
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. 286 This is one of the best Spades I have met with to dig hard lumpy Clays. 1809–16 Coleridge Table-t. (1884) 414 A lumpy soup full of knots of curds. 1845 G. E. Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. I. 293 The blood remained perfectly fluid and slightly lumpy. 1885 Times 30 July 9/6 The soaked rice when subjected to steam-heat is liable to form a lumpy porridge instead of a mess in which the grains remain separate. |
b. Applied to rough water when the surface is cut up by the wind into small waves. Also of broken weather.
| 1857 C. Gribble in Merc. Marine Mag. (1858) V. 3 Hard gales..with a heavy lumpy sea. 1867 Morn. Star 19 Sept. 3 At this part of the river the water was extremely ‘lumpy’, the high wind meeting the ebb tide. 1875 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports ii. viii. iv. §3. 664 They are capable of living through a great deal of lumpy lake or river. 1894 Times 6 Mar. 7/2 The head wind and lumpy water in this reach making the work very hard. 1928 Sat. Even. Post 10 Mar. 8/1 ‘Had good weather?’ ‘Lumpy weather all the way.’ |
c. lumpy jaw: actinomycosis affecting the jaw, common in cattle.
| 1891–2 E. Salmon in U.S. Rep. Bureau Anim. Indust. (title), The Treatment of Lumpy Jaw. 1895 Times 4 Mar. 3/3 Should an animal be suffering from ‘lumpy jaw’ (actinomycosis),..the inspector condemns it. |
2. Having an outline or shape characterized by lumps or roundish protuberances which impart a heavy and clumsy appearance.
| 1708 Ozell tr. Boileau's Lutrin 36 Leaning on one Arm his lumpy Head. 1794 U. Price Ess. Picturesque I. 262 [That] dead flatness of outline..which his own close lumpy plantations of trees always exhibit. 1828 Scott Jrnl. 3 Apr., I have not forgiven them for..building two lumpy things like mad-houses. 1865 Geikie Scen. & Geol. Scot. viii. 222 Schistose rocks..form large lumpy hills, with long smooth slopes. 1890 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 107 Young ones [horses] generally have a roundish, lumpy shoulder. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 577 The disorder differs from other forms of obesity in its partial and lumpy distribution. 1926 A. Bennett Lord Raingo i. xxxviii. 216 The fair but lumpy young woman silently left the room. 1928 E. O'Neill Strange Interlude i. 14 Pretty vicious face under caked powder and rouge..lumpy body. 1934 Times Lit. Suppl. 8 Mar. 162/2 In the early nineties I was looking at Rubens's ‘Rape of the Sabines’ in the National Gallery, when a British workman beside me remarked, ‘Lumpy lot to lift, eh?’ 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. of Schoolch. ix. 168 The unfortunate fat boy..is known as..lumpy. 1973 Observer 5 Aug. 18/7 Lumpier and mousier, the girl grooms socialised affectionately with their ponies. |
3. slang. Intoxicated, drunk.
| 1810 Splendid Follies III. 165 Doctor Lying..got cherry⁓merry, and came home as lumpy..as an ass. 1845 Punch VIII. 200 For ‘boosey’ we might substitute ‘lumpy’ to suit modern parlance. 1864 in Slang Dict. |