gum up

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Big banks’ profit engines are humming along even as geopolitics keep threatening to gum up the works.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

There are three specific cases, however, where changing course halfway through does gum up the works, and you’re better off leaving things as they are, the experts say.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 23, 2026

Although it doesn’t gum up the works, why keep Harpagon as a male character, for example, and make Cleante a female one?

From New York Times • May 3, 2024

Such incidents will cause “ingress/egress issues for some communities” and potentially gum up or dam rivers with debris.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2024

But the United States differs from Europe in ways that can gum up the mobility machine.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times