Academic English #62. Lump A in with B: To lump A together with B

“Lump A in with B” means to think of or treat A together with B.

It is mainly used when someone or something is treated all at once without distinguishing individual people or specific issues.

In Korean, it can be interpreted as something like “to lump together,” “to put in the same category,” or “to process in one batch.”

It is a phrase often used not only in everyday conversation but also in academic and business settings, and the nuance can vary slightly depending on the context.

For example, in everyday conversation, it is used when expressing dissatisfaction about being “treated the same as other people,” while in academic contexts, it is used when grouping multiple concepts or data sets together for analysis.

Three example sentences for everyday conversation

• Don’t lump him in with lazy people. → Don’t lump him in with lazy people.

• I just made one mistake, but they lumped me in with the troublemakers. → I just made one mistake, but they lumped me in with the troublemakers.

• It’s unfair to lump all teenagers in with the irresponsible ones. → It’s unfair to lump all teenagers in with the irresponsible ones.

Three example sentences for academic/specialized English

• We should not lump small-scale studies in with large randomized controlled trials. → We should not lump small-scale studies in with large randomized controlled trials.

• Lumping self-reported data in with objective measures may distort the interpretation of results. → Lumping self-reported data in with objective measures may distort the interpretation of results.

• If we lump males in with females, we risk missing significant gender-related insights. → If we lump males in with females, we risk missing significant gender-related insights.