What does "gum" mean?
The flesh around the teeth.
Gum
/ɡʌm/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The flesh around the teeth.
- Grammar: gum is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: chewing gum, gingiva, glue, acaroid resins.
- Useful contrasts: bite with teeth, clear, detach.
- Usage evidence: The rooms in this hotel are really very bad at muffling sounds. I can hear my neighbor chewing his gum!
How to use "gum"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "gum" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "gum" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "gum" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "gum" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "gum" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "chewing gum" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "gum", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The flesh around the teeth. in-plural, often
- 2 A viscous water-soluble carbohydrate exudate of certain plants that hardens when it becomes dry, or such a substance as a component of a plant exudate. uncountable
"gum arabic"
- 3 Initialism of genitourinary medicine. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
- 4 the tissue (covered by mucous membrane) of the jaws that surrounds the bases of the teeth wordnet
- 5 Any viscous or sticky substance resembling the true gum. uncountable
"gum benzoin"
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 Initialism of GUM (department store). abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
- 7 a preparation (usually made of sweetened chicle) for chewing wordnet
- 8 Chewing gum. uncountable
- 9 any of various trees of the genera Eucalyptus or Liquidambar or Nyssa that are sources of gum wordnet
- 10 A single piece of chewing gum. countable
"Do you have a gum to spare?"
- 11 wood or lumber from any of various gum trees especially the sweet gum wordnet
- 12 A gummi candy. South-Africa, countable, in-plural, often, uncountable
- 13 cement consisting of a sticky substance that is used as an adhesive wordnet
- 14 A hive made of a section of a hollow gum tree; hence, any roughly made hive. Southern-US, US, countable, dialectal, uncountable
- 15 any of various substances (soluble in water) that exude from certain plants; they are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying wordnet
- 16 A vessel or bin made from a hollow log. Southern-US, US, countable, dialectal, uncountable
- 17 A rubber overshoe. US, countable, dialectal, uncountable
- 18 A gum tree, any of various types of trees or an individual thereof. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To chew, especially of a toothless person or animal.
- 2 To apply an adhesive or gum to; to make sticky by applying a sticky substance to. sometimes, with-up
"However, Albert said in his audiotape and in his speech that a lever designed to release the lifeboat's block and tackle was gummed up with red paint."
- 3 exude or form gum wordnet
- 4 To deepen and enlarge the spaces between the teeth of (a worn saw), as with a gummer. transitive
- 5 To stiffen with glue or gum.
"He frets like a gummed velvet."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 become sticky wordnet
- 7 To inelegantly attach into a sequence. sometimes
"It consists in gumming together long strips of words [that] have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug."
- 8 grind with the gums; chew without teeth and with great difficulty wordnet
- 9 To impair the functioning of a thing or process. colloquial, with-up
"That cheap oil will gum up the engine valves."
- 10 cover, fill, fix or smear with or as if with gum wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The rooms in this hotel are really very bad at muffling sounds. I can hear my neighbor chewing his gum!"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "gum"?
Common synonyms include: chewing gum, gingiva, glue, acaroid resins, adhere, adhesive.
How do you use "gum" in a sentence?
The rooms in this hotel are really very bad at muffling sounds. I can hear my neighbor chewing his gum!
How do you pronounce "gum"?
Pronounced /ɡʌm/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
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.
Etymology 3
* As an English and German surname, variant of Gumm. * As a north/Low German surname, from Old Saxon gumo (“man”). * As a Chinese surname, Romanized from 甘 (gān) (Gan).