gum
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A preparation for chewing.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
guhmIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡʌm
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
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
chiefly uncountable
Any viscous or sticky substance resembling the true gum.
A preparation (usually made of sweetened chicle) for chewing
countable
A single piece of chewing gum.
often in the plural
The flesh around the teeth.
verb
To chew, especially of a toothless person or animal.
To stiffen with glue or gum.
transitive
To deepen and enlarge the spaces between the teeth of (a worn saw), as with a gummer.
colloquialwith up
To impair the functioning of a thing or process.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
More ways to use gum
- “These trees gum in the Spring.”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.
Dried juice of the dhak tree.
Reddish-brown dried gummy exudation from any of several trees of the genus Eucalyptus especially Eucalyptus camaldulensis.
Any of several Australian gum trees growing on moist or alluvial soil.
Tall tree of Queensland and New South Wales and Victoria.
An allergic contact dermatitis developed around the lips of children who chew bubble gum.
An Indian gum from the dhawa tree.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Low spreading tree of Indonesia yielding an orange to brown gum resin (gamboge) used as a pigment when powdered.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: any of various trees of the genera Eucalyptus
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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.