Verb. (old).—1. To beat. For synonyms see Tan.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v.
2. (colloquial).—1. To dislike: ‘If he does not like it he may lump it’
= if he isn’t satisfied he may do the other thing. Also, (2) to take
without choice (i.e. to swallow ‘whole’).
1833. Neal, Down Easters, vii. Let ’em lump it if they don’t like
it.
1837–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 6, preface (ed. 1862). A
man that would be guilty of such an action is no gentleman, that’s
flat, and if you don’t like it you may lump it.
1864. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, Bk. iv, ch. iii. If you don’t
like it, it’s open to you to lump it.
1878. H. B. Stowe, Poganuc People, xi. And if anybody don’t like
it, why they may lump it, that’s all.
1887. F. R. Stockton, The Hundredth Man, ch. xv. If old Stull
didn’t like it, he could lump it. And to know that he lumped it
would be a rare joy to Mrs. People.
1888. Bret Harte, Five O’clock in the Morning. And I told him, if
he didn’t like it he might lump it, and he travelled off on his
left ear, you bet.
1888. Detroit Free Press, 20 Oct. If the white folks didn’t like it
they could lump it.