gum

gum¹ [gʌm] n

[Sense: 1; Origin: Old English goma]

[Sense: 2-5; Date: 1300-1400; : Old French; Origin: gomme, from Greek kommi, from Egyptian qmy.t]

[Sense: 6; Date: 1800-1900; Origin: God]

1.) [C usually plural]

your gums are the two areas of firm pink flesh at the top and bottom of your mouth, in which your teeth are fixed

2.) [U] ↑chewing gum

3.) [U] BrE

a type of glue used to stick light things such as paper together

4.) [U]

a sticky substance found in the stems of some trees

5.)

a ↑gum tree

6.) by gum!

spoken old-fashioned used to express surprise

gum ²

gum² past tense and past participle gummed present participle gumming

v [T always + adverb/preposition]

BrE old-fashioned to stick things together using glue

= ↑glue gum sth to sth

▪ A large label had been gummed to the back of the photograph.

gum up [gum sth<=>up] phr v

to prevent a machine from moving and working properly

▪ Dirt had got inside the watch and gummed up the works.