gum

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Gummed p. pr. & vb. n. Gumming. ] 1. To smear with gum; to close with gum; to unite or stiffen by gum or a gumlike substance; to make sticky with a gumlike substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

He frets like a gummed velvet. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To chew with the gums, rather than with the teeth. [ PJC ]

gum up (a) To block or clog (a conduit) with or as if with gum; as, to gum up the drainpipe. (b) to interfere with; to spoil. [ Slang ] [ PJC ]

n. [ OE. gome, AS. gama palate; akin Co G. gaumen, OHG. goumo, guomo, Icel. g&unr_;mr, Sw. gom; cf. Gr. &unr_; to gape. ] The dense tissues which invest the teeth, and cover the adjacent parts of the jaws. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gum rash (Med.), strophulus in a teething child; red gum. --
Gum stick, a smooth hard substance for children to bite upon while teething. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To deepen and enlarge the spaces between the teeth of (a worn saw). See Gummer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. gomme, gumme, F. gomme, L. gummi and commis, fr. Gr. &unr_;, prob. from an Egyptian form kam&unr_;; cf. It. gomma. ] 1. A vegetable secretion of many trees or plants that hardens when it exudes, but is soluble in water; as, gum arabic; gum tragacanth; the gum of the cherry tree. Also, with less propriety, exudations that are not soluble in water; as, gum copal and gum sandarac, which are really resins. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) See Gum tree, below. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A hive made of a section of a hollow gum tree; hence, any roughly made hive; also, a vessel or bin made of a hollow log. [ Southern U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A rubber overshoe. [ Local, U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Black gum,
Blue gum,
British gum, etc. See under Black, Blue, etc. --
Gum Acaroidea, the resinous gum of the Australian grass tree (Xanlhorrhœa). --
Gum animal (Zool.), the galago of West Africa; -- so called because it feeds on gums. See Galago. --
Gum animi or animé. See Animé. --
Gum arabic, a gum yielded mostly by several species of Acacia (chiefly A. vera and A. Arabica) growing in Africa and Southern Asia; -- called also gum acacia. East Indian gum arabic comes from a tree of the Orange family which bears the elephant apple. --
Gum butea, a gum yielded by the Indian plants Butea frondosa and B. superba, and used locally in tanning and in precipitating indigo. --
Gum cistus, a plant of the genus Cistus (Cistus ladaniferus), a species of rock rose. --
Gum dragon. See Tragacanth. --
Gum elastic,
Elastic gum. See Caoutchouc. --
Gum elemi. See Elemi. --
Gum juniper. See Sandarac. --
Gum kino. See under Kino. --
Gum lac. See Lac. --
Gum Ladanum, a fragrant gum yielded by several Oriental species of Cistus or rock rose. --
Gum passages, sap receptacles extending through the parenchyma of certain plants (Amygdalaceæ, Cactaceæ, etc.), and affording passage for gum. --
Gum pot, a varnish maker's utensil for melting gum and mixing other ingredients. --
Gum resin, the milky juice of a plant solidified by exposure to air; one of certain inspissated saps, mixtures of, or having properties of, gum and resin; a resin containing more or less mucilaginous and gummy matter. --
Gum sandarac. See Sandarac. --
Gum Senegal, a gum similar to gum arabic, yielded by trees (Acacia Verek and A. Adansoniä) growing in the Senegal country, West Africa. --
Gum tragacanth. See Tragacanth. --
Gum water, a solution of gum, esp. of gum arabic, in water. --
Gum wood, the wood of any gum tree, esp. the wood of the Eucalyptus piperita, of New South Wales. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A piece of chewing gum in the shape of a ball, usually covered with a colored glaze of sugar. They are often sold in a small, special-purpose coin-operated vending machine called a gumball machine. [ PJC ]

n. [ Written also gombo. ] 1. A soup thickened with the mucilaginous pods of the okra; okra soup. Especially, A thick stew made with chicken (chicken gumbo), or seafood (seafood gumbo), thickened with okra or file, and also containing greens and often hot spices; it is particularly popular in Louisiana. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The okra plant or its pods. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) A small suppurating inflamed spot on the gum. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A tropical American tree (Bursera simaruba) yielding a reddish resin used in cements and varnishes.
Syn. -- Bursera simaruba. [ WordNet 1.5 ]