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Glite Dictionary
gumming

gumming

8.7
Chewing food slowly without using the teeth
  • noun
  • /ˈɡʌmɪŋ/
translation icon : masticar sin dientes
  • It sounded like a hundred old toothless Bill Cosbys gumming Jell-O.

Examples

  • Much more serious than the gumming nibble of an ancient poodle.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Who made himself heard even over the great strife of his gumming as he said, "I was making plans for regular-guy things that the fun-loving Pop and his American boy pal should be buddy-buddy."

    Academic text (2007)

  • The dog was just gumming his food, unable to chew it properly because of his missing teeth.

  • She watched her grandfather gumming on his favorite soft bread, enjoying the taste despite his age.

  • After losing his teeth, he resorted to gumming his meals to savor the flavors without biting.

How Effective

mastication
  • Specialized
1 7.7
chewing
2 1.0
gumming
8.7

Surface Forms

gumming singular
gummings plural

Morphology

gumming = gum (transparent) = gum + ing

The noun is a gerund/nominalization of the verb 'gum' meaning to chew with the gums, so the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

Gumming comes from gum, the soft part around your teeth, so to 'gum' food is to chew it with your gums instead of biting. That's why gumming means weak or useless chewing, like when someone has no teeth.