gum

Definition of gum

19 senses · 3 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

(in-plural, often)The flesh around the teeth.

See all 19 definitions

noun

(in-plural, often)The flesh around the teeth.
(uncountable)A viscous water-soluble carbohydrate exudate of certain plants that hardens when it becomes dry, or such a substance as a component of a plant exudate.

“gum arabic”
“gum-oleo-resin”
(uncountable)Any viscous or sticky substance resembling the true gum.

“gum benzoin”
“[…] becoomed wi' the gum o' the coal-hill […]”
(uncountable)Chewing gum.
(countable)A single piece of chewing gum.

“Do you have a gum to spare?”
“Levi unwrapped a gum and put it in his mouth.”
(South-Africa, countable, in-plural, often, uncountable)A gummi candy.
(Southern-US, US, countable, dialectal, uncountable)A hive made of a section of a hollow gum tree; hence, any roughly made hive.
(Southern-US, US, countable, dialectal, uncountable)A vessel or bin made from a hollow log.
(US, countable, dialectal, uncountable)A rubber overshoe.
(countable, uncountable)A gum tree, any of various types of trees or an individual thereof.
(abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of genitourinary medicine.
(abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of GUM (department store).

verb

To chew, especially of a toothless person or animal.
(transitive)To deepen and enlarge the spaces between the teeth of (a worn saw), as with a gummer.
(sometimes, with-up)To apply an adhesive or gum to; to make sticky by applying a sticky substance to.

“However, Albert said in his audiotape and in his speech that a lever designed to release the lifeboat's block and tackle was gummed up with red paint.”
To stiffen with glue or gum.

“He frets like a gummed velvet.”
(sometimes)To inelegantly attach into a sequence.

“It consists in gumming together long strips of words [that] have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug.”
(colloquial, with-up)To impair the functioning of a thing or process.

“That cheap oil will gum up the engine valves.”
“The new editor can gum up your article with too many commas.”

name

A surname.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English gom, gome, gomme, goome, gum, gume, gumme, from Old English gōma (“palate”), from Proto-West Germanic *gōmō, from Proto-Germanic *gaumô, *gōmô (“palate”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- (“to gape, yawn”).…

See full etymology

From Middle English gom, gome, gomme, goome, gum, gume, gumme, from Old English gōma (“palate”), from Proto-West Germanic *gōmō, from Proto-Germanic *gaumô, *gōmô (“palate”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- (“to gape, yawn”). Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian gaumo (“palate”), German Gaum, Gaumen (“palate”), Luxembourgish Gomm, Gumm (“palate”), Yiddish גומען (gumen, “palate”), Danish gumme (“gums”), Icelandic gómur (“gum”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish gom (“palate”); also Latin hio (“to gape, yawn”), Ancient Greek χάσκω (kháskō, “to gape, yawn”), Lithuanian gomurỹs (“palate”), Bulgarian зе́я (zéja, “to gape”), Czech zát, zet (“to gape”), Polish ziać (“to pant”), Russian зия́ть (zijátʹ, “to gape, yawn”), Serbo-Croatian зи́јати, zíjati (“to gape, yawn”), Ukrainian зя́яти (zjájaty, “to gape”), Tocharian A koy- (“mouth”), Tocharian B koyn (“mouth”). More at yawn.

Anagrams of gum

3 plays · some not in Scrabble

Best play mug 6 points

Words you can make from gum

3 playable · top: MUG (6 pts)

Best play mug 6 points

2-letter words

2 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

A single letter you can add to gum to make another valid word.

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GUMS 7 pts