Link Centre Dictionary

gum

UK/ɡʌm/ US/ɡʌm/ common us
noun (6) verb (2)

noun

1.
2.

the tissue (covered by mucous membrane) of the jaws that surrounds the bases of the teeth

Synonyms
3.

any of various substances (soluble in water) that exude from certain plants; they are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying

4.

cement consisting of a sticky substance that is used as an adhesive

Synonyms
5.

wood or lumber from any of various gum trees especially the sweet gum

Synonyms
6.

any of various trees of the genera Eucalyptus or Liquidambar or Nyssa that are sources of gum

Synonyms

verb

1.

grind with the gums; chew without teeth and with great difficulty

  • “the old man had no teeth left and mumbled his food”
Synonyms
2.

exude or form gum

  • “these trees gum in the Spring”

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • acacia gum Terms derived from gum (etymology 2)
  • acaroid gum Terms derived from gum (etymology 2)
  • accaroid gum Terms derived from gum (etymology 2)
  • accroides gum Terms derived from gum (etymology 2)
  • arabic gum Terms derived from gum (etymology 2)
  • art gum Terms derived from gum (etymology 2)
  • Barbary gum Terms derived from gum (etymology 2)
  • bee gum Terms derived from gum (etymology 2)
  • by gum
  • gum up

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.