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Culm vs Clump - What's the difference?

culm | clump |

As nouns the difference between culm and clump

is that culm is waste coal, used as a poor quality fuel; slack while clump is a cluster or lump; an unshaped piece or mass.

As a proper noun Culm

is a German bishopric, founded in 1234.

As a verb clump is

to form clusters or lumps.

culm

English

Etymology 1

Perhaps related to (coal). Perhaps from (etyl) , applied to this species of coal, which is much found in balls or knots in some parts of Wales: compare Old English culme.

Noun

  • waste coal, used as a poor quality fuel; slack.
  • * 1887 , Homer Greene, Burnham Breaker , Chapter XXI:
    • Here he lay down on a place soft with culm , to take his contemplated rest, and, before he was aware of it, sleep had descended on him, overpowered him, and bound him fast.
  • anthracite, especially when found in small masses

    • Etymology 2

    Borrowed from (etyl) culmus .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (botany) the stem of a plant, especially of grass or sedge
  • * 1962 , , page 150:
    • ...because, upon hearing him out, she sank down on the lawn in an impossible posture, examining a grass culm and frowning, he had taken his words back at once;...

    clump

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A cluster or lump; an unshaped piece or mass.
  • A thick group or bunch, especially of bushes or hair.
  • * Hawthorne
    • a clump of shrubby trees
  • A dull thud.
  • The compressed clay of coal strata.

    • Derived terms

    * clumpy

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To form clusters or lumps
  • To gather into thick groups
  • To walk with heavy footfalls.

    • Derived terms

    * clump up

    References

    English onomatopoeias