gum
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A type of tree: Any of various trees, especially of the genera Eucalyptus, Liquidambar, or Nyssa, that are sources of gum, wood, or lumber.
- An adhesive substance: A sticky cement or substance used to glue things together.
- A plant exudate: Any of various water-soluble substances that ooze from certain plants, which are gelatinous when wet but harden when dry.
- The tissue in the mouth: The firm, fleshy tissue (covered by mucous membrane) surrounding the bases of the teeth; the gums.
- A chewing preparation: A preparation, usually made of sweetened chicle, for chewing; chewing gum.
Verb:
- To exude gum: To ooze or form a sticky, resinous substance.
- To become sticky: To become adhesive or gummy.
- To chew without teeth: To grind or mumble food using the gums because of a lack of teeth.
- To apply gum: To cover, fill, fix, or smear something with or as if with a sticky adhesive.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- The sweet gum is a common tree in North America.
- I need some gum to fix this broken vase.
- My gums are bleeding after I brushed my teeth too hard.
- Would you like a piece of chewing gum?
Verb:
- Some trees gum in the spring, producing a sticky resin.
- The old label gummed up and was hard to remove.
- The baby had to gum her food because she had no teeth yet.
- He carefully gummed the envelope shut.
Advanced Usage
"to gum up the works": To cause a process or system to stop working properly, often by making it sticky or clogged.
- Adding too much oil can gum up the engine.
"to gum something down": To fasten or secure something with an adhesive.
- She gummed down the corners of the poster so it wouldn't curl.
Variants and Related Words
Gummy (adj): Having a sticky or glue-like consistency; resembling gum.
- The candy was gummy and stuck to my teeth.
Gumwood (n): The wood from a gum tree.
- The furniture was made from durable gumwood.
Gumdrop (n): A type of chewy, gelatin-based candy.
- He offered me a red gumdrop.
Synonyms
- Noun (Adhesive): Adhesive, glue, paste, cement.
- Noun (Mouth tissue): Gingiva (medical term).
- Verb (Chew): Mumble, munch (without teeth).
Related Phrasal Verbs
Gum up: To make something sticky or cause it to malfunction.
- The spilled syrup gummed up the keyboard.
Gum together: To cause things to stick together with a sticky substance.
- The pages of the old book were gummed together.
Related Idioms
By gum!: An old-fashioned, mild exclamation of surprise or emphasis.
- By gum! That's a large fish you caught!
Gum and bear it: A playful, informal variation of "grin and bear it," implying enduring something unpleasant.
- The lecture was boring, but I just had to gum and bear it.
Noun
- any of various trees of the genera Eucalyptus or Liquidambar or Nyssa that are sources of gum
- wood or lumber from any of various gum trees especially the sweet gum
- cement consisting of a sticky substance that is used as an adhesive
- any of various substances (soluble in water) that exude from certain plants; they are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying
- the tissue (covered by mucous membrane) of the jaws that surrounds the bases of the teeth
- a preparation (usually made of sweetened chicle) for chewing
Verb
- exude or form gum
- these trees gum in the Spring
- become sticky
- grind with the gums; chew without teeth and with great difficulty
- the old man had no teeth left and mumbled his food
- cover, fill, fix or smear with or as if with gum
- if you gum the tape it is stronger