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gum up

B2 informal separable transitive
In simple words

To block or mess up a machine or plan so that it can't work properly — like when sticky stuff gets into a machine.

Literal meaning: To fill something with gum (sticky substance) so it seizes up and stops working.

Meanings

1 B2 neutral

To cause a mechanical device to stop working by blocking or clogging it with a sticky substance.

"The old oil had dried out and completely gummed up the engine's moving parts."

Grammar: separable
2 B2 idiomatic informal

To disrupt or obstruct a process, plan, or system so that it cannot function efficiently.

"The new regulation has completely gummed up the approval process — it's taking weeks longer than it should."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Common in both literal (mechanical) and figurative (organizational or procedural) senses. The expression 'gum up the works' is an established idiom meaning to disrupt a process. Used in informal everyday speech and journalism.

Commonly used with

works machine system engine process plans

Forms

Base
gum up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
gums up
he/she/it
Past simple
gumed up
yesterday
Past participle
gumed up
have + pp
-ing form
guming up
continuous

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Synonyms

clog up jam up obstruct foul up sabotage block

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