to gum
- verb
- /ɡʌm/
- A sticky residue will gum up the gears if you don't clean the machine regularly.
- gum up the works
They're just going to make minestrone in there, gum up the pipes with white beans.
- They're just going to make minestrone in there, gum up the pipes with white beans.
- This is the clerk who fills out forms slightly incorrect and gums up the work.
- And this is going to glycate or gum up all the cells and tissues in your body.
- That means that it basically gums up the surface of all the cells in your body, all the cells in your child's body.
- Don't quote me, but too much weeds going to gum up your brain.
Examples
-
This type of coffee is sprayed with oils that can gum up your coffee machine components.
Blog text (25) -
The sticky fibers gum up high-speed machinery in cotton gins and textile mills.
Academic text (1997) -
What are you trying to do, gum up the works?
-
I know, gum up the works.
-
You might gum up the fingerprints.
-
What they do is they gum up this pump that recycles the stuff.
-
The only chance I have of catching them and bringing them in... is by staying away from you because you'd only gum up the works.
-
They're just going to make minestrone in there, gum up the pipes with white beans.
-
This is the clerk who fills out forms slightly incorrect and gums up the work.
-
If the glue isn't dry, it will gum up the nozzle and make it hard to use.
Antonyms
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- Specialized
A powder from guar seeds used to thicken foods and help make paper and cloth
A small round piece of chewing gum with a hard colored sugar coating often sold in vending machines
- Specialized
A sticky natural substance from the acacia tree used to thicken foods, candies, and medicines
A North American tree with spiky round seed balls and sweet-smelling sap and red leaves in autumn
- UK
A tall fast-growing eucalyptus tree with bluish young leaves used for timber and medicine
- Specialized
A tall tree in eastern North America with horizontal branches and bright red autumn leaves
- Australian
A small Australian eucalyptus tree with rough dark bark at the base and red sap
- Specialized
A skin rash around the lips after chewing bubble gum with artificial colors or flavors
- Specialized
A sticky substance that comes from cherry tree bark and is used to make food thicker
- Australian
A small to medium tree from Tasmania grown for its sweet sap and as a garden tree
A Mediterranean shrub with white flowers and sticky leaves that produce fragrant sap used in perfume
- Specialized
A hard sticky substance from trees in Africa used to make varnish and glue
- Archaic
A yellow sticky substance from some Australian trees used to make varnishes and paper
A North American tree with star-shaped leaves, spiky round fruit, and sticky fragrant sap
- Australian
A reddish-brown sticky substance from eucalyptus bark used in medicine and food
- Specialized
A red or black sticky substance from tropical trees that people use to tan leather and treat wounds
- Australian
A tall Australian tree with smooth bark and a strong lemon smell from its leaves
- Australian
A tall Australian eucalyptus tree whose bark gives a sweet sticky substance
- Specialized
A natural sticky sweet substance from mesquite tree pods used in food and products
- Australian
A medium-sized eucalyptus tree that grows in swampy mountain areas in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia
- Indian
A natural sticky substance from the dhawa tree used to thicken food and other products
- Australian
A small or medium tree from Australia and Tasmania with smooth pale bark that peels in strips
- Specialized
A natural sticky substance from acacia trees used to thicken food and medicine
- Australian
A sticky natural substance from some Australian trees that makers use for varnish and paper
- Specialized
A bitter, strong-smelling gum that people use in traditional medicine and as a spice
- Specialized
A sticky, fragrant substance from a plant used in medicine and to make varnish
- Specialized
A sticky substance from some tropical trees that people use to make varnish and incense
- Specialized
A fragrant resin from trees used in perfumes and to soothe irritated skin
- Specialized
A sticky substance from trees with a sweet scent used to protect skin and scent perfumes and incense
- Indian
A dried sticky juice from the dhak tree used in medicine to help red, sore skin
- Specialized
A hard pale material from certain trees used in varnish, incense, and to make paint shiny
- Specialized
A natural stretchy material from tree sap used to make rubber things like tires or tubing
- Specialized
A bitter brown plant gum once used in medicine and now used mainly for animals
- Specialized
A reddish sticky substance from tropical trees used to make leather and as a medicine
- Specialized
A thick sticky substance from rockrose bushes that helps perfume keep its smell
- Specialized
A thick sticky substance from some trees that people burn to make a pleasant smell and use in perfume
- Specialized
A western American plant with sticky leaves sometimes used as medicine but poisonous to animals
- Specialized
A sticky natural substance from trees used to make medicines, varnish, and incense
- Specialized
A sticky material that insects make in Madagascar and people use for varnish and dye
- Specialized
A sticky natural gum from an Asian tree used to thicken food and cosmetics and to make fabrics smooth
- New Zealand
A hard sticky substance from kauri trees in New Zealand used to make varnish and linoleum
- Australian
A tall Australian tree with crooked branches that grows by rivers and has strong reddish wood
- Australian
A large Australian tree with hard red wood used for building that grows along rivers
- Australian
A very tall eucalyptus tree from eastern Australia grown for its strong wood and for parks
- Specialized
A natural gum from trees called acacia near the Senegal River used to thicken or stabilize food and medicines
- Australian
A medium-sized tree from southern Australia that grows in damp or swampy places
- Australian
A small Australian or Tasmanian tree with smooth light coloured bark that peels in strips
- US
A tree that loses its leaves in autumn and has bright red leaves and small blue berries
- Specialized
A group of related trees that make flowers and fruit, like the sour gum tree
- Specialized
A sticky substance from Asian Sterculia trees used to thicken food, cosmetics, and cloth
How Sticky
Surface Forms
Etymology
Gum as a verb (to stick something with a sticky substance) comes from the noun gum (the sticky resin). So to 'gum' edges or paper is to cover them with a sticky substance called gum.