Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Gum?

\Gum\, n. [OE. gome, AS. gama palate; akin Co G. gaumen, OHG. goumo, guomo, Icel. g?mr, Sw. gom; cf. Gr. ? to gape.] The dense tissues which invest the teeth, and cover the adjacent parts of the jaws. {Gum rash} (Med.), strophulus in a teething child; red gum. {Gum stick}, a smooth hard substance for children to bite upon while teething.
\Gum\, v. t. To deepen and enlarge the spaces between the teeth of (a worn saw). See {Gummer}.
\Gum\, n. [OE. gomme, gumme, F. gomme, L. gummi and commis, fr. Gr. ?, prob. from an Egyptian form kam?; cf. It. {gomma}.] 1. A vegetable secretion of many trees or plants that hardens when it exudes, but is soluble in water; as, gum arabic; gum tragacanth; the gum of the cherry tree. Also, with less propriety, exudations that are not soluble in water; as, gum copal and gum sandarac, which are really resins. 2. (Bot.) See {Gum tree}, {below}. 3. A hive made of a section of a hollow gum tree; hence, any roughly made hive; also, a vessel or bin made of a hollow log. [Southern U. S.] 4. A rubber overshoe. [Local, U. S.] {Black gum}, {Blue gum}, {British gum}, etc. See under {Black}, {Blue}, etc. {Gum Acaroidea}, the resinous gum of the Australian grass tree ({Xanlhorrh[oe]a}). {Gum animal} (Zo["o]l.), the galago of West Africa; -- so called because it feeds on gums. See {Galago}. {Gum animi or anim['e]}. See {Anim['e]}. {Gum arabic}, a gum yielded mostly by several species of {Acacia} (chiefly {A. vera} and {A. Arabica}) growing in Africa and Southern Asia; -- called also {gum acacia}. East Indian gum arabic comes from a tree of the Orange family which bears the elephant apple. {Gum butea}, a gum yielded by the Indian plants {Butea frondosa} and {B. superba}, and used locally in tanning and in precipitating indigo. {Gum cistus}, a plant of the genus {Cistus} ({Cistus ladaniferus}), a species of rock rose. {Gum dragon}. See {Tragacanth}. {Gum elastic}, {Elastic gum}. See {Caoutchouc}. {Gum elemi}. See {Elemi}. {Gum juniper}. See {Sandarac}. {Gum kino}. See under {Kino}. {Gum lac}. See {Lac}. {Gum Ladanum}, a fragrant gum yielded by several Oriental species of Cistus or rock rose. {Gum passages}, sap receptacles extending through the parenchyma of certain plants ({Amygdalace[ae]}, {Cactace[ae]}, etc.), and affording passage for gum. {Gum pot}, a varnish maker's utensil for melting gum and mixing other ingredients. {Gum resin}, the milky juice of a plant solidified by exposure to air; one of certain inspissated saps, mixtures of, or having properties of, gum and resin; a resin containing more or less mucilaginous and gummy matter. {Gum sandarac}. See {Sandarac}. {Gum Senegal}, a gum similar to gum arabic, yielded by trees ({Acacia Verek} and {A. Adansoni["a]}) growing in the Senegal country, West Africa. {Gum tragacanth}. See {Tragacanth}. {Gum tree}, the name given to several trees in America and Australia: (a) The black gum ({Nyssa multiflora}), one of the largest trees of the Southern States, bearing a small blue fruit, the favorite food of the opossum. Most of the large trees become hollow. (b) A tree of the genus {Eucalyptus.} See {Eucalpytus.} (c) The sweet gum tree of the United States ({Liquidambar styraciflua}), a large and beautiful tree with pointedly lobed leaves and woody burlike fruit. It exudes an aromatic terebinthine juice. {Gum water}, a solution of gum, esp. of gum arabic, in water. {Gum wood}, the wood of any gum tree, esp. the wood of the {Eucalyptus piperita}, of New South Wales.
\Gum\, v. t. [imp. &. p. {Gummed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Gumming}.] To smear with gum; to close with gum; to unite or stiffen by gum or a gumlike substance; to make sticky with a gumlike substance. He frets likke a gummed velvet.Shak.
\Gum\, v. i. To exude or from gum; to become gummy.