- [countable, usually plural] either of the areas of flesh in the mouth to which the teeth are attached
- gum disease
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- lower
- upper
- toothless
- …
- disease
Definitions on the go
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- [uncountable] a sticky substance produced by some types of tree see also xanthan gum
- [uncountable] a type of glue used for sticking light things together, such as paper see also spirit gum
- (also chewing gum)[uncountable] a sweet that you chew (= bite many times) but do not eat
- [countable] a fairly hard, coloured sweet that tastes of fruit and that you chew
- fruit gums
Word Originnoun senses 2 to 5 Middle English: from Old French gomme, based on Latin gummi, from Greek kommi, from Egyptian kemai. noun sense 1 Old English gōma ‘inside of the mouth or throat’, of Germanic origin; related to German Gaumen ‘roof of the mouth’.
Idioms
See gum in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryby gum!
- (old-fashioned, informal) used to show surprise
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gum