What does gumming mean?
Gumming is the present participle and gerund of gum, with meanings that depend on which sense of gum is intended. In everyday use, it usually means chewing gum, as in a sentence describing someone who “kept gumming” during a meeting or while waiting. In technical and craft contexts, gumming can mean applying gum or another adhesive to fasten or seal something. It can also refer to machinery or surfaces becoming sticky, clogged, or difficult to operate, especially in the expression “gumming up.” The word is most familiar for the image of someone chewing gum, but its additional meanings connect it to adhesives and residue. Gumming should not be confused with humming, which is making a continuous low sound with the voice. Though it has several uses, gumming is particularly useful because one familiar word can describe both an everyday human activity and specialized technical processes.
verbGumming means chewing gum. In technical and craft contexts, it can also mean fastening or sealing something with gum, or becoming sticky or clogged with gum.
- Chewing gum.
- Fastening or sealing something with gum or another adhesive.
- Becoming sticky, clogged, or difficult to operate because of a buildup of gum or residue.
"The children sat on the steps gumming while they waited for the bus."
"He kept gumming throughout the long meeting."
"The old mechanism was gumming up and needed to be cleaned."
Gumming has two distinct lives: the noisy business of chewing gum and the sticky work of making things adhere.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does gumming come from?
Gumming is the present participle and gerund form of gum. English gum comes through Middle English from Old English gumm, whose older senses included the sticky substance and the material used for chewing. Related forms such as gummy and gumminess developed from the same base, and cognates of gum occur in other Germanic languages.
How gumming is actually used
The everyday sense, meaning chewing gum, is informal and generally intransitive. The senses involving adhesive or machinery are more technical; “gumming up” often describes a mechanism becoming sticky or obstructed.
Easily confused with gumming
Humming is making a continuous low sound with the voice, whereas gumming usually means chewing gum or using gum as an adhesive.