clump
part of speech
noun (a clump, clumps); verb (clump, clumps, clumped, clumping)
meaning for a pupil
1) A clump is a small group of plants or trees growing close together: «a clump of daisies». tree →
2) A clump is a lump or mass of something stuck together: «a clump of hair», «clumps of mud». tree →
3) To clump, or clump together, means to stick together in lumps or gather in a group. tree →
4) To clump means to walk with slow, heavy, noisy steps: «He clumped up the stairs in his boots». tree →
sense in the lessons
In science and nature lessons, plants like grasses and bulbs grow in clumps; in cooking, flour can clump if you don't stir. In stories, «clumping» footsteps tell you someone heavy or tired is walking. Phrases: «a clump of trees», «clump together», «clumping footsteps».
examples
- A clump of bluebells grew under the tree. tree →
- The cat left a clump of fur on the sofa. tree →
- Stir the porridge so it doesn't clump. tree →
- The children clumped together to keep warm. tree →
- We heard Dad clumping upstairs in his wellies. tree →
- Clumps of mud fell off my football boots. tree →
- The rabbits hid in a clump of long grass. tree →
- But not half-way, near a clump of trees, there was the Wolf! tree →
note
Regular verb: clumped. Similar sounding: «clomp» (also heavy walking) and «lump». «Clumpy» describes things that form lumps or heavy shoes.
In the corpora
- In March a garden pond can fill with clumps of jelly dotted with black eggs: common frog spawn.
- Squeeze lemon into warm milk and it suddenly forms lumps: the acid makes the milk's proteins clump together.
- Acid makes milk proteins clump into lumps; cheese-makers use this to make soft cheese like paneer.
- Bacteria have eaten the milk sugar and made acid, and the acid made the milk proteins clump.
- Stars are born inside huge cold clouds of gas and dust called nebulae, where clumps collapse under their own gravity.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «clump» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.