clog
noun · verb
Simple meaning
That which hinders or impedes motion.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
klahgIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈklɑɡ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
That which hinders or impedes motion; an encumbrance, restraint, or impediment of any kind.
A weight, such as a log or block of wood, attached to a person or animal to hinder motion.
A blockage.
A type of shoe with an inflexible, often wooden sole sometimes with an open heel.
ukcolloquial
A shoe of any type.
verb
To block or slow passage through (often with 'up').
To encumber or load, especially with something that impedes motion; to hamper.
Impede the motion of, as with a chain or a burden
“Horses were clogged until they were tamed.”
To burden; to trammel; to embarrass; to perplex.
Impede with a clog or as if with a clog
“The market is being clogged by these operations.”
intransitive
To perform a clog dance.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: That which hinders or impedes motion; an encumbrance, restraint, or impediment of any kind.
Used this way, clog is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use clog
- “The leaves clog our drains in the Fall.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A dance performed while wearing shoes with wooden soles.
Someone who does clog dancing.
A dance performed while wearing shoes with wooden soles.
Become or cause to become obstructed.
An intellectual who is ostentatiously and irritatingly knowledgeable.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to block or slow passage through (often with 'up')
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.