gum meaning

• Noun: gum  gúm
  1. A preparation (usually made of sweetened chicle) for chewing
     - chewing gum 
  2. The tissue (covered by mucous membrane) of the jaws that surrounds the bases of the teeth
     - gingiva 
  3. Any of various substances (soluble in water) that exude from certain plants; they are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying 
  4. Cement consisting of a sticky substance that is used as an adhesive
     - glue, mucilage 
  5. Wood or lumber from any of various gum trees especially the sweet gum
     - gumwood 
  6. Any of various trees of the genera Eucalyptus or Liquidambar or Nyssa that are sources of gum
     - gum tree
  Verb: gum (gummed,gumming)  gúm
  1. Cover, fill, fix or smear with or as if with gum
     "if you gum the tape it is stronger" 
  2. Grind with the gums; chew without teeth and with great difficulty
     - mumble 
  3. Become sticky 
  4. Exude or form gum
     "these trees gum in the Spring"

  Derived forms: gummed, gums, gumming

  See also: gumming, gummy

  Type of: animal tissue, apply, cement, change, chew, confection, exudate, exudation, exude, jaw, manducate, masticate, ooze, ooze out, put on, sweet, transude, tree, wood

  Part of: mouth, oral cavity, oral fissure, rima oris

  Encyclopedia: Gum

• 
  [Architecture]
  1.

  A moderately high-density hardwood of the eastern and southern US; whitish to gray-green in color and of uniform texture; used for low-grade veneer, plywood, and rough cabinet work.

  2.

  Any of a class of colloidal substances that are soluble or swell in water, exuded by or prepared from plants; sticky when moist.

• 
  [Medicine]
  vt gummed; gum·ming : to chew with the gums
  ³gum
  n
  1 : any of numerous colloidal polysaccharide substances of plant origin that are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying and are salts of complex organic acids —compare MUCILAGE
  2 : any of various plant exudates (as a mucilage, oleoresin, or gum resin)
  n : the tissue that surrounds the necks of teeth and covers the alveolar parts of the jaws; broadly : the alveolar portion of a jaw with its enveloping soft tissues
  

• by gum:    Interjection: by g ...
• gum vein, gum pocket, gum streak:    [Architecture]In h ...
• acacia gum:    [Medicine]Powdered ...

Examples

1. i think i have an abscess on my gums.
2. the gums become red and swollen.
3. cut out two pieces of cardboard and gum them together.
4. my part that protrudes from the gum has a "skin" of enamel.
5. a parulis, or gum boil, may be present near the involved tooth.