any of various viscid, amorphous exudations from plants, hardening on exposure to air and soluble in or forming a viscid mass with water.
any of various similar exudations, as resin.
a preparation of such a substance, as for use in the arts or bookbinding.
mucilage; glue.
Philately. the adhesive by which a postage stamp is affixed.
Informal. a rubber overshoe or boot.
to smear, stiffen, or stick together with gum.
to clog with or as if with some gummy substance.
to exude or form gum.
to become gummy.
to become clogged with a gummy substance.
to masticate (food) with the gums instead of teeth.
to shape or renew the teeth of (a saw), as by grinding.
any of various sticky substances that exude from certain plants, hardening on exposure to air and dissolving or forming viscous masses in water
any of various products, such as adhesives, that are made from such exudates
any sticky substance used as an adhesive; mucilage; glue
short for kauri gum
a gumdrop
to cover or become covered, clogged, or stiffened with or as if with gum
(tr) to stick together or in place with gum
(intr) to emit or form gum
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English gom(m)e, gum(m)e, from Old French gomme, from Vulgar Latin gumma, for Latin gummi, cummi, commi, from Greek kómmi, from Coptic kommi, from Egyptian kema, kemai, kmjt
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English gom(m)e, Old English gōma “palate, jaws (in plural),” Old Norse gōmr “roof or floor of the mouth,” German Gaumen “palate”
First recorded in 1825–35; euphemism for God
Gum is a sticky substance that oozes out of a tree or another plant, and chewing gum is the stuff you blow bubbles with or stick under your desk. Yuck. Natural gum has many uses, including as a thickener in food products. Chewing gum, however, has only one real use: it's made to be chewed but not swallowed. This kind of gum often has a fruity or minty flavor, and can sometimes be blown into bubbles. When you gum something up, you clog or block it — or you make it sticky. Completely different gums are the soft flesh inside your mouth where your teeth are rooted.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The procedures remove plaque below the gumline and disrupt bacterial biofilms that contribute to gum inflammation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
In an early trial in people with gum disease, the drug was reported to reduce gum inflammation for several months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Research by Hajishengallis and another Penn professor, immunologist John Lambris, led to the development of an experimental drug applied into gum tissue, aimed at calming the immune response.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
The sugary gum group also experienced a measurable reduction in blood pressure.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
These had to be sifted out from dust bunnies, gum wrappers, and hair ties.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
GUM, the luxury mall next to Red Square, is full of shoppers — though many Western stores like Prada, Gucci and Christian Dior are closed — and restaurants and theaters do thriving business.
From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2022
Detsky Mir has one big advantage for recently-exfiltrated Soviet spies over better known department stores like GUM: It’s a toy store.
From Slate ● May 31, 2018
Beyond GUM is a rapid-rehousing program that helps homeless individuals find and deal with housing issues, even paying some rent.
From Washington Times ● May 2, 2018
Oblivious to recent tensions, crowds of tourists, many Russian-speaking, wandered around the Kremlin walls and St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square and the nearby mall inside the famous GUM department store.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 20, 2018
GUM CISTUS.—The gum labdanum is procured from this shrub, and is its only produce used in medicine.
From The Botanist's Companion, Volume II by Salisbury, William
That gummed up credit markets, tanked the value of money-market funds, and sent global stock markets into a tailspin.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
That gummed up financing and logistics for Arctic LNG 2 and stopped South Korean shipbuilders from delivering to the project.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
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.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2025
For as long as the process is gummed up in parliament, ministers can point to it being gummed up in parliament.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2024
The sap must have gummed up the works, because a deafening crack echoed down the mountainside.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
That is gumming up private-equity’s tried-and-true formula of raising money from investors to buy companies, then flipping them for a profit a few years later.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
"It's almost palpably eager to please – and if you don't welcome it right into your heart, you might want to check there's not some marmalade gumming it shut."
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025
And despite the claims that she’s gumming up the state’s process with her appeals, Gilbert has never actually reversed a council decision.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025
Because of its eagerness to enter into chemical reactions, "sulfur compounds tend to be more unstable, posing hazards to lab personnel and equipment, clogging up instrumentation and gumming up experiments."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2024
A never-ending stream of glowing sludge forced itself into the engines, whirling around the propellers, gumming them up, slowing them down, bringing them closer to the breaking point.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
