glom

[glom] verb, glommed, glom·ming, noun Slang.
verb (used with object)
1.
to steal.
2.
to catch or grab.
3.
to look at.
noun
4.
a look or glimpse.
5.
glom onto, to take hold or possession of: He wanted to glom onto some of that money.

Origin:
1895–1900, Americanism; compare Scots glaum, glam to snatch at, glammis jaws of a vise, apparently < Scots Gaelic glàm to grab, clutch, influenced by clam2

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To glom
00:10
Glom is one of our favorite verbs.
So is kibitz. Does it mean:
chat, to converse
to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.
Collins
World English Dictionary
glom (ɡlɒm) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb (foll by on to)
1.  to attach oneself to or associate oneself with
2.  (US) to acquire, esp without paying
 
[C20: from Scots glaum]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

glom
1907, from glahm "grab, snatch, steal," Amer.Eng. underworld slang, from Scot. glaum (1715), from Gael. glam "to handle awkwardly, grab voraciously, devour." Sense of "look at, watch" (1945) is apparently derived from the same word.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

glom definition

[glɑm]
  1. tv.
    to steal something. (Underworld.) : He gloms just about everything he needs.
  2. tv.
    to take a look at someone or something. (Underworld.) : Come over here and glom the view of the bank from this window.
  3. tv.
    to arrest someone. : The copper glommed Fred on Tuesday.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Left undisturbed, they'd glom onto each other and become a fortress of twisted shells.
And so wherever there were facilities, in various agencies, he would glom on to them.
Which is why barnacles, algae, and other marine organisms that glom onto hulls or bodies are such pests.
He's able to glom on to something someone said and repeat it as if it were his own thought.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT