gum up

British  

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 )

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gum up Idioms  

1. 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]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gum up

Big banks’ profit engines are humming along even as geopolitics keep threatening to gum up the works.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

In part, that’s because of how easy it’s become to gum up the Senate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025

“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.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2025

Although it doesn’t gum up the works, why keep Harpagon as a male character, for example, and make Cleante a female one?

From New York Times ● May 3, 2024

“Want to gum up all the clues?” he shouted at them.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• bungle