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clog

 - 3 dictionary results

clog

[klog, klawg] verb, clogged, clog⋅ging, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to hinder or obstruct with thick or sticky matter; choke up: to clog a drain.
2. to crowd excessively, esp. so that movement is impeded; overfill: Cars clogged the highway.
3. to encumber; hamper; hinder.
–verb (used without object)
4. to become clogged, encumbered, or choked up.
5. to stick; stick together.
6. to do a clog dance.
–noun
7. anything that impedes motion or action; an encumbrance; a hindrance.
8. a shoe or sandal with a thick sole of wood, cork, rubber, or the like.
9. a similar but lighter shoe worn in the clog dance.
10. a heavy block, as of wood, fastened to a person or beast to impede movement.
11. clog dance.
12. British Dialect. a thick piece of wood.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME, of uncert. orig.


clog⋅gi⋅ly, adverb
clog⋅gi⋅ness, noun
cloggy, adjective


3. impede, trammel, fetter.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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clog   (klôg, klŏg)   


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n.  
  1. An obstruction or hindrance.

  2. A weight, such as a block, attached to the leg of an animal to hinder movement.

  3. A heavy, usually wooden-soled shoe.

v.   clogged, clog·ging, clogs

v.   tr.
  1. To obstruct movement on or in; block up: Heavy traffic clogged the freeways.

  2. To hamper the function or activity of; impede: "attorneys clogging our courts with actions designed to harass state and local governments" (Roslyn L. Anderson and Patricia L. Irvin).

v.   intr.
  1. To become obstructed or choked up: The pipes had clogged with rust.

  2. To thicken or stick together; clot.

  3. To do a clog dance.


[Middle English, block attached to an animal's leg.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

clog 
c.1325, clogge "a lump of wood," origin unknown. The sense of "wooden-soled shoe" is first recorded 1416, probably originally meaning the wooden sole itself. The sense of "hinder" is from 1398, originally by fastening a block of wood to something; meaning "choke up" is 17c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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