clog
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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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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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
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.
“Gasoline-Seekers Clog Highways,” the Hartford Courant reported on Dec. 22, 1973, as the Christmas holiday approached.
From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026
“This promotional pullback has had the greatest impact on our Classic Clog business as we work harder to protect our icon.”
From MarketWatch • Oct. 30, 2025
Clog dancers now have their day too in South Carolina - it is Aug. 8.
From Washington Times • May 22, 2023
In 2007, Batali launched his own line of Crocs called the Bistro Mario Batali Vent Clog, which were briefly discontinued almost six years later.
From Salon • Oct. 27, 2022
And I breasted strangely against the Air Clog, and stept forward across the Circle, into the lonesomeness of the Night Land.
From The Night Land by Hodgson, William Hope
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.
