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gum up

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gum

1  [guhm] noun, verb, gummed, gum⋅ming.
Use gum up in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of various viscid, amorphous exudations from plants, hardening on exposure to air and soluble in or forming a viscid mass with water.
2. any of various similar exudations, as resin.
3. a preparation of such a substance, as for use in the arts or bookbinding.
4. chewing gum.
5. mucilage; glue.
6. rubber 1 (def. 1).
7. gum tree.
8. Philately. the adhesive by which a postage stamp is affixed. Compare o.g. (def. 1).
9. Informal. a rubber overshoe or boot.
–verb (used with object)
10. to smear, stiffen, or stick together with gum.
11. to clog with or as if with some gummy substance.
–verb (used without object)
12. to exude or form gum.
13. to become gummy.
14. to become clogged with a gummy substance.
—Verb phrase
15. gum up, Slang. to spoil or ruin.
—Idiom
16. gum up the works. work (def. 50).
Origin:
1350–1400; ME gomme < OF < VL *gumma, for L gummi, cummi < Gk kómmi

Related forms:
gumless, adjective
gumlike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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gum 1   (gŭm)   
n.  

    1. Any of various viscous substances that are exuded by certain plants and trees and dry into water-soluble, noncrystalline, brittle solids.

    2. A similar plant exudate, such as a resin.

    3. Any of various adhesives made from such exudates or other sticky substance.

    4. Any of various trees of the genera Eucalyptus, Liquidambar, or Nyssa that are sources of gum. Also called gum tree.

    5. The wood of such a tree; gumwood.

  2. A substance resembling the viscous substance exuded by certain plants, as in stickiness.

    1. Any of various trees of the genera Eucalyptus, Liquidambar, or Nyssa that are sources of gum. Also called gum tree.

    2. The wood of such a tree; gumwood.

  4. Chewing gum.

v.   gummed, gum·ming, gums

v.   tr.
To cover, smear, seal, fill, or fix in place with or as if with gum.
v.   intr.

  1. To exude or form gum.

  2. To become sticky or clogged.

Phrasal Verb(s):
gum upTo ruin or bungle: gum up the works.

[Middle English gomme, from Old French, from Late Latin gumma, variant of Latin gummi, cummi, from Greek kommi, perhaps from Egyptian ḳmj-t.]
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

gum  (1)
"resin," c.1300, from O.Fr. gomme, from L.L. gumma, from L. gummi, from Gk. kommi "gum," from Egyptian kemai. The verb, in the transferred fig. sense of "spoil, ruin" (usually with up) is first recorded 1901, probably from the notion of machinery becoming clogged. As a shortened form of chewing gum, first attested 1842 in Amer.Eng.; gumshoe "plainclothes detective" is from 1906, from the rubber-soled shoes they wore (which were so called from 1863). Gum-tree (1676) was so called for the resin it exudes.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 3gum
Function: noun
1 : any of numerous colloidal polysaccharide substances of plant origin that are gelatinous when moist but harden ondrying and are salts of complex organic acids —compare MUCILAGE
2 : any of various plant exudates(as a mucilage, oleoresin, or gum resin)
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

gum 2
n.
The firm connective tissue covered by mucous membrane that envelops the alveolar arches of the jaw and surrounds the bases of the teeth. Also called gingiva. v. gummed, gum·ming, gums
To chew food with toothless gums.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

gum up

Ruin or bungle something, as in The front office has gummed up the sales campaign thoroughly. This idiom is also put as gum up the works, as in John's changes in procedures have gummed up the works in the shipping department. [Slang; c. 1900]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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