clog

[klog, klawg]

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.

Origin of clog

1350–1400; Middle English, of uncertain origin

Related formsclog·gi·ly, adverbclog·gi·ness, nounclog·gy, adjectivean·ti·clog·ging, adjectiveo·ver·clog, verb (used with object), o·ver·clogged, o·ver·clog·ging.

Synonyms for clog

3. impede, trammel, fetter.

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

Related Words for clogging

plug, obstruct, congest, choke, impede, seal, hamper, fill, encumbrance, blockade, snag, obstruction, drag, impediment, burden, hindrance, bar, block, impedance, jam

Examples from the Web for clogging

Historical Examples of clogging

Something in us clogging up the channel and nothing can get through.
Quiet Talks on Power
S.D. Gordon
It still swung, clogging her bows as she turned in the current.
The Lady and the Pirate
Emerson Hough
Clogging, the ballet, interpretive and toe dances—why enumerate them.
The Art of Stage Dancing
Ned Wayburn
These streams must be kept separate and from clogging one another or themselves.
The Modern Railroad
Edward 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

British Dictionary definitions for clogging

clog

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

clog

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 clogging

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.

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.