GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 5 definitions

1.       
   Gum (?), n. [OE. gome, AS. gama palate; akin Co G. gaumen, OHG. goumo, guomo, Icel. gmr, Sw.  gom; cf. Gr.  to gape.] The dense tissues which invest the teeth, and cover the adjacent parts of the jaws.
   
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   Gum rash (Med.), strophulus in a teething child; red gum. -- Gum stick, a smooth hard substance for children to bite upon while teething.
   
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2.       
   Gum, v. t. To deepen and enlarge the spaces between the teeth of (a worn saw). See Gummer.
   
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3.       
   Gum, n. [OE. gomme, gumme, F. gomme, L. gummi and commis, fr. Gr. , prob. from an Egyptian form kam; 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”.
   
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   2. (Bot.) See Gum tree, below.
   
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   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.]
   
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   4. A rubber overshoe. [Local, U. S.]
   
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   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 Orient
   al 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.
   
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4.       
   Gum, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gummed (gŭmd); 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.
   
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   He frets like a gummed velvet. Shak.
   
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   2. To chew with the gums, rather than with the teeth.
   
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   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]
   
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5.       
   Gum, v. i. To exude or form gum; to become gummy.
   
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