Clag

//klæɡ// noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A glue or paste made from starch. uncountable
  2. 2
    Low cloud, fog or smog. uncountable

    "The sky was thick with dirty gray clag"

  3. 3
    Unburned carbon (smoke) from a steam or diesel locomotive, or multiple unit. uncountable
  4. 4
    Bits of rubber which are shed from tires during a race and collect off the racing line, especially on the outside of corners (cf. marbles). slang, uncountable

    "He ran wide in the corner, hit the clag and spun off."

Verb
  1. 1
    To encumber obsolete

    "As when the orchard boughes are clag'd with fruite"

  2. 2
    To hit Geordie, Teesside
  3. 3
    To stick, like boots in mud

    "Wash the rice well in two waters, if you don't wash 'em, 'e will clag [clag means get sticky] and put 'em in a pot of well-salted boiling water."

Example

More examples

"The sky was thick with dirty gray clag"

Etymology

From Middle English claggen, probably of Scandinavian origin. Compare Swedish klägg and Old English clǣġ.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.