to clog up
9
3.7
- phrasal verb
- /klɔg ʌp/
:
obstruir
- The sudden rise in naturalization petitions clogged up the machinery of making citizens despite a 1990 effort at procedural reform.
- clogs up the toilet
- clog up the drain
- clog up your arteries
Now the truth is, is I was clogging up that hallway right in front of the doorway.
- Now the truth is, is I was clogging up that hallway right in front of the doorway.
- So what that means for me is that I have deep oil glands, larger pores, and I can clog up my pores more easily than someone that has had dry skin their whole life.
- So, you know, we're getting clogged up there.
- It's only a two man cell, which they clog up three to six guys and which gets real brutal, you know?
Examples
-
Entire threads seem unnecessary and would clog up the forums really quickly.
Blog text (15) -
If heavy rain continues, the storm drains may clog up and cause flooding on the roads.
-
That will be dropped by the US Attorney in the interest of justice 'so as not to clog up the court.'
-
It's clogging up the air filters.
-
Her lungs get clogged up and it just makes it hard for her to breathe.
-
The most important thing was to get on the road before the highways clogged up for the afternoon rush hour.
Fiction book (1996) -
The only other problem is, what if the sink breaks or clogs up?
Blog text (4) -
I don't want it clogging up my docket.
-
Such a cumbersome system doesn't just fail users; it also clogs up desperately needed hospital beds for critically ill patients.
Academic text (2009) -
Food scraps can easily clog up the sink if you don't use a drain cover.
Synonyms
∞
3.0
To stop movement, access, or progress
264
3.7
To be unable to breathe because something blocks the throat or neck
119
5.1
To block a path or view
35
6.5
To slow the progress or movement of people and things
27
4.0
Become blocked so things cannot move
25
3.8
Cause a delay that stops activity or movement
21
3.2
To block a pipe or passage so flow stops
18
4.5
To make something dirty or blocked so it does not work properly
13
4.4
Get stuck and stop moving or working
8
4.7
Become blocked so things cannot move or work
7
5.1
To cause a complete stop so vehicles cannot move or talks cannot progress
6
6.4
To stop a supply by blocking its source or flow
6
7.2
To make moving parts stuck with dirt or glue so they stop working
5
5.8
To get stuck and stop making progress
4
3.8
To stop movement through a road, pipe, or path
1
5.3
To block or fill a place so things cannot move through it
1
5.8
To block a pipe or drain so water cannot pass through
To become blocked or cause a block by dirt and grease
Antonyms
How Blocked
Surface Forms
Morphology
clog + up
The verb 'clog' means to cause a blockage and the particle 'up' contributes a sense of completion/intensification, so their combination yields 'to block completely' which a B1 learner can infer from the parts. This is a regular phrasal-verb composition common in English (and paralleled by similar completion markers in other languages), making the expression transparently derivable from its constituents.
Etymology
Clog up comes from the simple image of things getting stuck and filling a narrow pipe or drain. Imagine hair or leaves building up so water cannot pass — the clog fills it and the up shows it is full, so the phrase means 'to block' or 'stop movement'.