Cleam

//kliːm// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To smear, rub on, or anoint; to bedaub with an oily or sticky substance. dialectal, transitive
  2. 2
    To cause to stick; to glue on. dialectal, transitive
  3. 3
    To stick, cling to, or adhere. dialectal, intransitive

Etymology

From Middle English clemen, from Old English clǣman (“to smear, anoint”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaimijan, from Proto-Germanic *klaimijaną (“to smear with clay, mortar”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to stick, glue”).

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