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.

“Making it easier and less costly for insurers to deny claims, or for patients to file potentially dubious claims, could further gum up an already overloaded system rather than smoothing out the process.”

From MarketWatch • Oct. 21, 2025

He said plastic bags are problematic for material recovery facilities where they are known to gum up machinery.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 3, 2024

Malformed proteins not only fail to carry out their tasks, they can accumulate and eventually gum up the inner workings of cells.

From Science Daily • Apr. 30, 2024

But Mr Day said these were "ingeniously countered" with either pumped-in sugar based viscous fluid to gum up the clockwork mechanism, or a magnet known as "the clock stopper" which would disrupt its iron parts.

From BBC • Dec. 26, 2022

Their noses drip, their throats gum up, their eyes are rimmed with red.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson