Lump In Your Throat

Meaning of Idiom ‘Lump in Your (or one’s) Throat

A lump in one’s throat is a feeling of tightness, constriction, or dryness in the throat caused by strong emotions such as grief; strong emotions that make it difficult to speak. ¹Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms]. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.,²Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.,³Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.

Usage

This idiom is used in the following typical phrases:

• Have a lump in your throat
• Get a lump in your throat
• Bring a lump to one’s throat

Although a lump in one’s throat can describe an actual physical feeling in the throat, it also has a figurative meaning and can be used whether or not such a feeling of tightness in the throat actually occurs.

Examples Of Use

“The ending of that movie gave me a lump in my throat. I was afraid people would see me cry in public!”

“Seeing her again after so many years brought a lump to my throat.”

“I have to admit, I had a lump in my throat at the wedding. It’s about time they made it official.”

Origin

Used since the 1800s, this idiom associates a tightness in the throat caused by strong emotion to an actual physical swelling. ⁴Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

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• Armed to the Teeth
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More Lump Idioms

More Throat Idioms

• Stick In Your (or one’s) Throat
• Jump Down Someone’s Throat