clog
- 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.
- to become clogged, encumbered, or choked up.
- to stick; stick together.
- to do a clog dance.
- 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.
Origin of clog
Synonyms
Related Words
plug, obstruct, congest, choke, impede, seal, hamper, fill, encumbrance, blockade, snag, obstruction, drag, impediment, burden, hindrance, bar, block, impedance, jamExamples from the Web for clogging
Historical Examples
Something in us clogging up the channel and nothing can get through.
Quiet Talks on PowerS.D. Gordon
It still swung, clogging her bows as she turned in the current.
The Lady and the PirateEmerson Hough
Clogging, the ballet, interpretive and toe dances—why enumerate them.
The Art of Stage DancingNed Wayburn
These streams must be kept separate and from clogging one another or themselves.
The Modern RailroadEdward Hungerford
Often it was as much as they could do to prevent the mud from clogging their rifles.
Canada in Flanders, Volume I (of 3)Lord Max Aitken Beaverbrook
clog1
- 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)
- 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
Word Origin
clog2
- 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
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for clogging
clog
n.
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.
clog
v.
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.