clog

[ klog, klawg ]

/ klɒg, klɔg /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR clog ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), clogged, clog·ging.

to hinder or obstruct with thick or sticky matter; choke up: to clog a drain.

to crowd excessively, especially so that movement is impeded; overfill: Cars clogged the highway.

to encumber; hamper; hinder.

verb (used without object), clogged, clog·ging.

to become clogged, encumbered, or choked up.

to stick; stick together.

to do a clog dance.

noun

anything that impedes motion or action; an encumbrance; a hindrance.

a shoe or sandal with a thick sole of wood, cork, rubber, or the like.

a similar but lighter shoe worn in the clog dance.

a heavy block, as of wood, fastened to a person or beast to impede movement.

clog dance.

British Dialect. a thick piece of wood.

Nearby words

Origin of clog

1350–1400; Middle English, of uncertain origin

SYNONYMS FOR clog

3 impede, trammel, fetter.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR clog ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

clog·gi·ly, adverbclog·gi·ness, nounclog·gy, adjectivean·ti·clog·ging, adjective

o·ver·clog, verb (used with object), o·ver·clogged, o·ver·clog·ging.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for clogged

He put its science in simple terms “Imagine you have clogged up plumbing due to debris,” Chatterjee said.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins Come Closer to Eliminating Heart Disease|Dale Eisinger|April 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In 2011, the wires were clogged with stories of a potential Peace Prize gong for Julian Assange.
Nobel Nomination Nonsense|Michael Moynihan|January 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Leno asked about his recent cardiovascular surgery in which doctors installed a stent to open up a clogged artery.
W. Charms on the ‘Tonight’ Show|Lloyd Grove|November 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The other story that clogged social media Monday also took aim at News Corp. and Rupert Murdoch.
Boston Marathon Bombing Media Errors Pile Up, as Does the Outrage|Michael Moynihan|April 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST

His armpits were so clogged with fat that he'd developed chronic dermatosis.
Dog Fight Over Obie, the Dieting Dachshund|Winston Ross|November 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
With a kind of clumsy jubilancy he holds us fast in the ways and language of thick and clogged sense.
Diderot and the Encyclopdists|John Morley
In fact, when your nose is clogged, you cannot smell at all.
The Child's Day|Woods Hutchinson
The screen on the governor valve in the turbine may be clogged.
The Traveling Engineers' Association|Anonymous
No encumbrances are so likely to drag their victim away from integrity as those by which rank is clogged with poverty.
Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745.|Mrs. Thomson
I got over that difficulty, but it required too much MS to reconcile the thing—so the movement of the story was clogged.
The Letters Of Mark Twain, Volume 3, 1876-1885|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

British Dictionary definitions for clogged (1 of 2)

clog

/ (klɒɡ) /

verb clogs, clogging or clogged

to obstruct or become obstructed with thick or sticky matter

(tr) to encumber; hinder; impede

(tr) to fasten a clog or impediment to (an animal, such as a horse)

(intr) to adhere or stick in a mass

slang (in soccer) to foul (an opponent)

noun

any of various wooden or wooden-soled shoes
(as modifier)clog dance

a heavy block, esp of wood, fastened to the leg of a person or animal to impede motion

something that impedes motion or action; hindrance

pop one's clogs slang to die

Derived Formscloggy, adjectiveclogginess, noun

Word Origin for clog

C14 (in the sense: block of wood): of unknown origin

British Dictionary definitions for clogged (2 of 2)

clog

/ (klɒɡ) /

verb clogs, clogging or clogged

to use a photo-enabled mobile phone to take a photograph of (someone) and send it to a website without his or her knowledge or consent

Derived Formsclogging, noun

Word Origin for clog

C21: c(amera) + log

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for clogged (1 of 2)

clog

early 14c., clogge "a lump of wood," origin unknown. Also used in Middle English of large pieces of jewelry and large testicles. Cf. Norwegian klugu "knotty log of wood." Meaning "anything that impedes action" is from 1520s. The sense of "wooden-soled shoe" is first recorded late 14c.; they were used as overshoes until the introduction of rubbers c.1840. Originally all wood (hence the name), later wooden soles with leather uppers for the front of the foot only. Later revived in fashion (c.1970), primarily for women. Clog-dancing is attested from 1863.

Word Origin and History for clogged (1 of 2)

clog

late 14c., "hinder," originally by fastening a block of wood to something, from clog (n.). Meaning "choke up with extraneous matter" is 17c. Related: Clogged; clogging.

clog

verb (used with object), clogged, clog·ging.

verb (used without object), clogged, clog·ging.

noun

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Origin of clog

Examples from the Web for clogged

British Dictionary definitions for clogged (1 of 2)

clog

verb clogs, clogging or clogged

noun

Word Origin for clog

British Dictionary definitions for clogged (2 of 2)

clog

verb clogs, clogging or clogged

Word Origin for clog

Word Origin and History for clogged (1 of 2)

clog

Word Origin and History for clogged (1 of 2)

clog