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Showing results for gum up.
Definitions

gum up

VERB
botch
Synonyms
STRONGEST
bungle
WEAK
ball up blow blunder bobble boggle bollix boot bumble butcher distort err fall down flounder flub foul up fumble goof up louse up make a muck of mar mend mess mess up misapply miscalculate miscompute misconjectu

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.

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

In part, that’s because of how easy it’s become to gum up the Senate.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025

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

Slow-curing polymers such as thiolenes and epoxies would gum up the scraper.

From Science Daily • Nov. 15, 2023

Meryl Lee and Mai Thi and I decided that we should find better ways to help Danny than putting gum up our noses.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt