gum

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A sweet, soft substance that you chew but do not swallow.

   She offered me a piece of gum after lunch.

2. 2
   noun

   The firm pink flesh in your mouth around the base of your teeth.

   The dentist said my gums were healthy.

3. 3
   noun

   A sticky substance that comes out of certain trees and plants.

   Gum oozed slowly from the cut in the tree trunk.

4. 4
   verb

   To stick or cover something with a sticky substance.

   The lock had been gummed up with dried paint.

From Middle English gomme, gumme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman gome, from Late Latin gumma, from Latin cummi, gummi, from Ancient Greek κόμμι (kómmi), from Egyptian qmy (“anointing oil”), qmyt (“acanthus resin, gum”). Cognate with Spanish goma (“rubber”). Doublet of gumma.

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