gum up

verb

1. to cover, dab, or stiffen with gum

2. informal,  to make a mess of; bungle (often in the phrase gum up the works )

Idioms and Phrases

Ruin or bungle something, as in The front office has gummed up the sales campaign thoroughly. This idiom is also put as gum up the works, as in John's changes in procedures have gummed up the works in the shipping department. [Slang; c. 1900]

Example Sentences

That gummed up financing and logistics for Arctic LNG 2 and stopped South Korean shipbuilders from delivering to the project.

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In a memo to employees, Fiddelke said he was trying to clear up “complexity” that gummed up decision-making and made it harder to deliver on ideas, according to the Journal.

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“Making it easier and less costly for insurers to deny claims, or for patients to file potentially dubious claims, could further gum up an already overloaded system rather than smoothing out the process.”

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Now, supplies of multiple items are gummed up at the same time.

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The process, normally gummed up, is even more difficult lately.

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Related Words

• bungle