Gum
Gum , noun
[Old English gome, Anglo-Saxon gama palate; akin Co German gaumen, Old High German goumo, guomo, Icelandic g{not transcribed}mr, Swedish gom; compare Greek {not transcribed} to gape.]
The dense tissues which invest the teeth, and cover the adjacent parts of the jaws.
Collocations (2)
Gum rash (Medicine) , strophulus in a teething child; red gum.
Gum stick , a smooth hard substance for children to bite upon while teething.
Gum , transitive verb
To deepen and enlarge the spaces between the teeth of (a worn saw). See Gummer.
Gum , noun
[Old English gomme, gumme, French gomme, Latin gummi and commis, from Greek {not transcribed}, prob. from an Egyptian form kam{not transcribed}; compare Italian 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.
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 United States]
4.
A rubber overshoe. [Local, United States]
Collocations (22)
Gum Acaroidea , the resinous gum of the Australian grass tree (Xanlhorrhoa).
Gum animal (Zoology) , 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 or 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 (Amygdalacea, Cactacea, 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. Adansonia) 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.
Gum (gumd) , transitive verb
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.
He frets like a gummed velvet.
2.
To chew with the gums, rather than with the teeth.
Collocations (1)
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]
Gum , intransitive verb
To exude or form gum; to become gummy.