clog
Americanverb (used with object)
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clogs,
present (3rd person singular)
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clogged,
past participle, past
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clogging
present participle
verb (used without object)
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clogs,
present (3rd person singular)
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clogged,
past participle, past
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clogging
present participle
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to become clogged, encumbered, or choked up.
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to stick; stick together.
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to do a clog dance.
noun
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clogs
plural
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anything that impedes motion or action; an encumbrance; a hindrance.
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a shoe or sandal with a thick sole of wood, cork, rubber, or the like.
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a similar but lighter shoe worn in the clog dance.
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a heavy block, as of wood, fastened to a person or beast to impede movement.
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British Dialect. a thick piece of wood.
verb
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to obstruct or become obstructed with thick or sticky matter
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(tr) to encumber; hinder; impede
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(tr) to fasten a clog or impediment to (an animal, such as a horse)
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(intr) to adhere or stick in a mass
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slang (in soccer) to foul (an opponent)
noun
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any of various wooden or wooden-soled shoes
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( as modifier )
clog dance
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a heavy block, esp of wood, fastened to the leg of a person or animal to impede motion
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something that impedes motion or action; hindrance
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slang to die
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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clogginessnoun
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cloggingnoun
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overclogverb (used with object)
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anticloggingadjective
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cloggyadjective
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cloggilyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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clogsimple
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clogssimple
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have cloggedperfect
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has cloggedperfect
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am cloggingprogressive
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are cloggingprogressive
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is cloggingprogressive
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have been cloggingperfect progressive
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has been cloggingperfect progressive
Past
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cloggedsimple
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had cloggedperfect
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was cloggingprogressive
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were cloggingprogressive
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had been cloggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of clog
1350–1400; Middle English, of uncertain origin
Explanation
A clog is a blockage, or something that gets in the way. A clog in your kitchen sink might mean you have to call a plumber before you can wash your dishes. A clog obstructs water from flowing through pipes, and it can also be figurative, like a clog in your city's restaurant inspection system that makes it impossible for people to open new cafes. When clog is a verb, it means to cause such a hindrance. A completely different kind of clog is a heavy, wooden-soled shoe. In the 14th century, a clogge was a "lump of wood," and the verb first meant, "hinder with a block of wood."
Vocabulary lists containing clog
The Devil's Arithmetic
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Earth Day
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The natural option, a blue-green microalgae called spirulina, proved to be too costly and thick in consistency, causing factory equipment to clog during candy production.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
Already, the excess heat in the tank has caused the MMA to harden and clog the failing tank’s valves, rendering it impossible for crews to drain the dangerous chemical or add stabilizing agents, Freeman said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
“If a well stays shut too long, it could clog up, and the oil hardens a bit. Then it would take even longer before they can start it back up,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 29, 2026
Abruptly capping wells is geologically hazardous: sudden pressure drops clog wellbores with heavy waxes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
The captain cleared us aside and used some tar to clog up the hole.
From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat
Wearing wooden clogs, Naresh Paswan uses a long iron bar to push fuel through dozens of fire holes that feed the kiln.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
"I mean, people have asked here if when he pops his clogs ... can he be stuffed for the museum?"
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
When a New York Times reporter tried to interview a woman in a chef’s apron and clogs carrying a flower bouquet, she ran back to her van.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
Citing Google Search metrics, Piper Sandler’s Anna Andreeva said in a note last month that while demand for clogs is surging in the U.S.,
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
“And not just clogs. When I got here, I had to run around for months on wooden clogs my mother carved for me.”
From "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen
“At first, I heard it was clogged arteries. Because he did have clogged arteries. He had a problem with that,” he said.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
In some cases, the requests can be simple, such as helping to fix a clogged toilet or a garage door that won’t open.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
The effort is beginning to bear fruit: the clusters of tents and shopping carts that once clogged the boulevards of Hollywood and Venice Beach are less numerous.
From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026
It’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, whose maddening play once clogged up the text chains of grumpy Knicks fans, but now feel like family.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
Bobby Gene’s voice was suddenly clogged with tears.
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
The problem is similar to mineral scale building up inside a tea kettle or clogging a shower head over time, except seawater contains far higher concentrations of dissolved salts.
From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026
Meanwhile, residents in the $3 million homes surrounding the campus—a former elementary school—complained about parents clogging the streets with Teslas at pickup and drop-off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
That might mean a lot of fish getting caught up and clogging the system, including the endangered twaite shad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
“AI slop is clogging your brain,” warns NPR.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025
They sleep in a once stately Old World suite with the furniture shored up against the walls and chicken feathers clogging the marble sinks and newspapers tacked clumsily across the windows.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
