gum

Meaning

Noun

The flesh around the teeth.

Verb

1. To chew, especially of a toothless person or animal.
2. To deepen and enlarge the spaces between the teeth of (a worn saw), as with a gummer.

Verb

1. To apply an adhesive or gum to; to make sticky by applying a sticky substance to.
2. To stiffen with glue or gum.
3. To inelegantly attach into a sequence.
4. (colloquial) To impair the functioning of a thing or process.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡʌm/

Etymology

From Middle English gome, from Old English gōma (“palate”), from Proto-West Germanic *gōmō, from Proto-Germanic *gōmô, *gaumô (“palate”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₂u-mo-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂w- (“to gape, yawn”).
See also German Gaumen, Old Norse gómr, Icelandic gómur; also Tocharian A ko, Tocharian B koyṃ (“mouth”), Lithuanian gomurỹs (“palate”). More at yawn.

Sentences

The gum was packaged in a red , white , and blue color scheme .