# gum

Pronunciation: say "GUM" /ɡʌm/

## Noun

1. A sweet, flexible substance that people chew for flavor without swallowing.
   - Simple: A soft, sweet thing you chew for a long time but do not swallow.
   - _The dentist warned that sugary gum can damage teeth over time._
   - _Spitting gum onto the sidewalk is frowned upon in many cities._
2. The firm flesh surrounding the base of the teeth in the mouth.
   - Simple: The firm pink flesh that holds your teeth in place.
   - _Receding gums can expose the sensitive roots of the teeth._
   - _The dentist injected anesthetic into the gum before drilling._
3. An individual piece of chewing gum.
   - Simple: A single piece of the chewy sweet you chew but do not swallow.
   - _He handed each child a gum after dinner._
   - _She unwrapped a fresh gum and started chewing._
5. A thick, water-soluble substance that oozes from certain plants and hardens as it dries.
   - Simple: A sticky juice from some plants that turns hard and dry over time.
   - _Acacia trees produce a gum used in food and medicine._
   - _The dried gum formed amber-colored beads along the trunk._
6. Any thick or sticky substance that resembles true plant gum.
   - Simple: Any thick, sticky stuff that is like the gum from plants.
   - _Over time, a sticky gum collected inside the engine valves._
   - _The label left a stubborn gum on the glass after she peeled it off._
7. A tree of various kinds, such as the eucalyptus, that exudes a sticky sap.
   - Simple: A kind of tree, such as a eucalyptus, that gives off sticky sap.
   - _A flock of parrots roosted in the old gum by the river._
   - _The bushfire swept through stands of towering gums._
11. A soft, chewy gelatin candy, frequently molded into shapes such as bears or worms. *(South Africa)*
   - Simple: A soft, chewy candy, often shaped like a bear or worm.
   - _These candies are a chewy gum flavored with real fruit juice._
   - _Children lined up for handfuls of colorful gum at the fair._
12. A rubber overshoe worn to protect footwear from rain and mud. *(dialectal, US)*
   - Simple: A rubber cover worn over a shoe to keep out water.
   - _Farmers kept their gums by the back porch for rainy mornings._
   - _She slipped a gum over each shoe before crossing the flooded yard._
14. A beehive made from a section of a hollow gum tree, or any roughly built hive. *(dialectal, Southern US, US)*
   - Simple: A simple beehive made from a hollow log.
   - _Bees swarmed around the weathered gum behind the barn._
   - _He built a row of gums from hollow logs to house his bees._
15. A hollow log, or a section of one, used as a container or bin for storing things. *(dialectal, Southern US, US)*
   - Simple: A container or bin made from a hollow log.
   - _Grandma kept her flour in an old gum carved from a tree trunk._
   - _The settlers used gums to store grain through the winter._

## Verb

4. To interfere with how something works, making a thing or process run poorly. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To stop something from working well.
   - _Bureaucratic delays gum the entire hiring pipeline._
   - _Grease and grime gummed the delicate mechanism beyond repair._
8. To chew, especially with the gums when teeth are absent.
   - Simple: To chew something with your gums when you have no teeth.
   - _The old dog gummed the treat slowly, having lost most of its teeth._
   - _Toothless infants gum whatever you hand them._
9. To apply glue or a sticky substance to something, making it sticky.
   - Simple: To put glue or something sticky onto a thing.
   - _He gummed the edges of the poster and smoothed it onto the wall._
   - _Bookbinders gum the spine to hold the pages together._
10. To stiffen something, such as fabric, with glue or gum.
   - Simple: To make cloth or paper stiff by using glue or gum.
   - _Hatmakers gum the brim so it stays rigid._
   - _The linen was gummed and pressed until it stood stiff on its own._
13. To attach something into a sequence in a clumsy, awkward manner.
   - Simple: To stick something into a list or order in a clumsy way.
   - _The editor gummed an unrelated chapter into the middle of the book._
   - _Programmers sometimes gum extra features into code without much thought._
16. To restore a worn saw by deepening and widening the gaps between its teeth, for example with a gummer.
   - Simple: To cut deeper spaces between the teeth of a worn saw blade.
   - _The mill hand gummed each saw whose teeth had grown shallow._
   - _Before resharpening, they gum the blade to restore the gullets._

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 8, 16** — From Middle English gome, from Old English gōma ("palate"), which comes through Proto-Germanic from a Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰeh₂w- ("to gape, yawn"). It is related to German Gaumen and Old Norse gómr.
**Meanings 1, 3–7, 9–15** — From Middle English gomme, borrowed via Anglo-Norman gome and Late Latin gumma from Latin gummi, which came from Ancient Greek κόμμι (kómmi), itself from Egyptian qmy ("anointing oil") and qmyt ("gum, resin"). It is cognate with Spanish goma ("rubber").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/gum (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).