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• gum
  gum

  noun

  any of various viscid, amorphous exudations from plants, hardening on exposure to air and soluble in or forming a viscid mass with water.
• GUM
  GUM

  abbreviation

  genitourinary medicine

gum

¹ American  

[guhm] / gʌm /

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.

7. gum tree.

8. Philately. the adhesive by which a postage stamp is affixed.

9. Informal. a rubber overshoe or boot.

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verb (used with object)

gummed, gumming

1. to smear, stiffen, or stick together with gum.

2. to clog with or as if with some gummy substance.

verb (used without object)

gummed, gumming

1. to exude or form gum.

2. to become gummy.

3. to become clogged with a gummy substance.

verb phrase

1. gum up to spoil or ruin.

idioms

1. gum up the works. work.

gum ² American  

[guhm] / gʌm /

noun

1. Also called gingiva. Often gums the firm, fleshy tissue covering the alveolar parts of either jaw and enveloping the necks of the teeth.

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verb (used with object)

gummed, gumming

1. to masticate (food) with the gums instead of teeth.

2. to shape or renew the teeth of (a saw), as by grinding.

idioms

1. beat one's gums, to talk excessively or ineffectively.

gum ³ American  

[guhm] / gʌm /

idioms

1. by gum, (used as a mild oath).

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gum ¹ British  

/ ɡʌm /

noun

1. any of various sticky substances that exude from certain plants, hardening on exposure to air and dissolving or forming viscous masses in water

2. any of various products, such as adhesives, that are made from such exudates

3. any sticky substance used as an adhesive; mucilage; glue

4. short for kauri gum

5. See chewing gum bubble gum gumtree

6. a gumdrop

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verb

1. to cover or become covered, clogged, or stiffened with or as if with gum

2. (tr) to stick together or in place with gum

3. (intr) to emit or form gum

GUM ² British  

abbreviation

1. genitourinary medicine

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gum ³ British  

/ ɡʌm /

noun

1. Technical name: gingiva. the fleshy tissue that covers the jawbones around the bases of the teeth

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gum ⁴ British  

/ ɡʌm /

noun

1. used in the mild oath by gum!

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gum ¹ Scientific  

/ gŭm /

1. Any of various sticky substances that are produced by certain plants and trees and dry into brittle solids soluble in water. Gums typically are colloidal mixtures of polysaccharides and mineral salts.

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gum ² Scientific  

/ gŭm /

1. See gingiva

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Other Word Forms

• gumless
  adjective
• gumlike
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of gum¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English gom(m)e, gum(m)e, from Old French gomme, from Vulgar Latin gumma, for Latin gummi, cummi, commi, from Greek kómmi, from Coptic kommi, from Egyptian kema, kemai, kmjt

Origin of gum²

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English gom(m)e, Old English gōma “palate, jaws (in plural),” Old Norse gōmr “roof or floor of the mouth,” German Gaumen “palate”

Origin of gum³

First recorded in 1825–35; euphemism for God

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Explanation

Gum is a sticky substance that oozes out of a tree or another plant, and chewing gum is the stuff you blow bubbles with or stick under your desk. Yuck. Natural gum has many uses, including as a thickener in food products. Chewing gum, however, has only one real use: it's made to be chewed but not swallowed. This kind of gum often has a fruity or minty flavor, and can sometimes be blown into bubbles. When you gum something up, you clog or block it — or you make it sticky. Completely different gums are the soft flesh inside your mouth where your teeth are rooted.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gum GUM gummed gumming

As of September, candy and gum prices were up 44% over a five-year period, the Associated Press reported, citing government data.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026

Early communities may contain relatively harmless bacteria, while more complex communities can eventually include species strongly associated with gum disease.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

In the process, Wilson meets other eccentric characters that share his passion of filmmaking but have their own interests, like clearing gum from a sidewalk, immortalizing a person’s tattoo after they’re dead, and music.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

"Getting rid of chewing gum, getting rid of grotty looking bins, getting rid of graffiti, the things that are unsightly that none of us want to see," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

For the next half hour, Madge and I dump out our candy and swap, lollipops for chocolate bars, peanut butter cups for packs of gum.

From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari

Bartender Yevgeniya Chernyshkova was lined up Thursday for a shot at Moscow’s GUM department store just off Red Square after the government required vaccinations for workers in some sectors.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 2, 2021

Restaurants in the area also are to be closed, and the iconic GUM department store on Red Square said it would open only in the evening.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 30, 2021

Detsky Mir has one big advantage for recently-exfiltrated Soviet spies over better known department stores like GUM: It’s a toy store.

From Slate ● May 31, 2018

It reminds me of Moscow’s GUM department store in the days of the Soviet Union.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 23, 2017

GUM CISTUS.—The gum labdanum is procured from this shrub, and is its only produce used in medicine.

From The Botanist's Companion, Volume II by William Salisbury

But product development at larger companies is slow and rigid, often getting gummed up in corporate bureaucracy, Brasher said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

But conditions worsened Friday when they discovered they could not offload a neutralizing agent in the failing tank because the valves had broken and were gummed up.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026

That gummed up credit markets, tanked the value of money-market funds, and sent global stock markets into a tailspin.

From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026

It also could take a long time for Saudi Arabia to actually take possession of the jets and the process could get gummed up in Congress or derailed by other developments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025

Instead my feet had gummed to the sidewalk as he handed her into the Ford and they drove away.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

That is gumming up private-equity’s tried-and-true formula of raising money from investors to buy companies, then flipping them for a profit a few years later.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

"It's almost palpably eager to please – and if you don't welcome it right into your heart, you might want to check there's not some marmalade gumming it shut."

From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025

And despite the claims that she’s gumming up the state’s process with her appeals, Gilbert has never actually reversed a council decision.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025

Because of its eagerness to enter into chemical reactions, "sulfur compounds tend to be more unstable, posing hazards to lab personnel and equipment, clogging up instrumentation and gumming up experiments."

From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2024

A never-ending stream of glowing sludge forced itself into the engines, whirling around the propellers, gumming them up, slowing them down, bringing them closer to the breaking point.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

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