How to Use gum up (something) in a Sentence

gum up (something)

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• This allows the meat to go through the grinder easily and not gum up.
  — Joe McKendry, WSJ, 28 July 2022
• Only one senator needs to object to gum up the process.
  — Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 Dec. 2021
• Powerful forces seek to gum up the machinery, or to rob it of fuel, or to steal its parts.
  — Kyle Smith, National Review, 3 Mar. 2022
• In the past, Fox’s defender would be able to hedge off him, knowing Fox wasn’t a lethal 3-point threat like he’s become this year, and gum up the action.
  — Chris Biderman, Sacramento Bee, 1 Feb. 2024
• Standard gasoline contains ethanol, which can gum up the motor and cause parts to rust if left in the machine all winter.
  — Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2021
• His return and insistence on taking the reins of the family business will only gum up the works.
  — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 29 Feb. 2024
• Academics point to a growing body of research that shows such contracts keep wages low and gum up labor markets.
  — Julian Mark, Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2023
• With such tight deadlines, a handful of senators could gum up the works and force a government shutdown.
  — Peter Weber, The Week, 14 Dec. 2022
• One problem — among many — is that the WTO operates by consensus, so any one of its 164 member countries could gum up the works.
  — Jamey Keaten, ajc, 11 June 2022
• Then come foul up, goof up, gum up, mess up, muck up, screw up and synonymous unprintables.
  — Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2021
• Unlike beta-amyloid, these gum up the inside of neurons.
  — Sara Harrison, Wired, 26 Jan. 2022
• Republicans at the Statehouse, though, have proposed legislation the past two years that would gum up the works.
  — Ryan Martin, The Indianapolis Star, 29 Mar. 2021
• But in some crowded places like coffee shops, concert venues or airports, lots of people connecting to the same WiFi network can gum up the works.
  — Shira Ovide, Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2022
• That had helped gum up supply chains, but some of the major logistics problems have eased recently.
  — Don Lee, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2022
• But Disney lawyers had another idea to gum up DeSantis’ plan.
  — Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2023
• A week and a half into training camp, the Ravens’ line looks capable of straddling the old school and the new school: a front that can gum up the works on second-and-1 runs and get after the quarterback on third-and-long drop-backs.
  — Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 7 Aug. 2021
• Instead, the accountant spent nights in her garage with an X-acto knife, fabric swatches, and assorted glues to design a patch that wouldn’t fray or gum up.
  — Olivia Dwyer, Outside Online, 6 Feb. 2018
• There are links in that process that, while making these kinds of vaccines potentially more flexible, could still gum up the works given all the involved players.
  — Sy Mukherjee, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2021
• Polling stations have replacements available but Richer warned blue or black ballpoint pens can gum up the election machines used to process ballots.
  — Robert Anglen, The Arizona Republic, 2 Aug. 2022
• But because of the power that Congress still holds over the District’s budget, any congressman can gum up the works by withholding funding needed to implement a new law.
  — Courtland Milloy, Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2023
• Even after Obama was reelected in 2012, Republicans retained control of the House and had enough clout to gum up Obama’s agenda.
  — Colbert I. King, Washington Post, 21 June 2024
• Teen drivers either are overly cautious, crawling along at a snail's pace and gum up the traffic or those darned no-good teens of a brazen nature are overly careless and cut off other drivers and run red lights.
  — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 7 June 2021
• Biden’s effort could well be slowed if, as widely expected, Republicans take control of the Senate and gum up the confirmation works.
  — Jackie Calmes, The Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2024
• So presidents can carry out policy, or gum up the works, without much there to stop them unless the other branches act collectively.
  — Julia Azari, ABC News, 12 Dec. 2023
• Requiring a special counsel for every candidate who announces a campaign would be an easy way for the subject of an investigation to gum up the works.
  — Barbara McQuade, Time, 17 Nov. 2022
• Would this accelerate photosynthesis or just gum up the works?
  — Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2021
• Each can gum up different gears in the immune system’s intricate machinery.
  — Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Science | AAAS, 27 Apr. 2021
• The initial suit was filed in early 2020, and the defense team—representing the state, Governor Greg Gianforte, and several state agencies—filed a number of petitions and motions over the next few years to try and gum up the process.
  — Molly Taft, The New Republic, 25 Aug. 2023
• The non-stick side, which is covered with polyethylene glycol (PEG), inhibits the build-up of cell debris and bacteria that tend to gum up and contaminate cardiac stents, catheters, and other devices.
  — Discover Magazine, 29 June 2010
• Democrats can also gum up the works by simply doing the thing that voters sent them to Washington to do in the first place: repeatedly pass bold, popular legislation in the House that might form the spine of a 2021 governing agenda.
  — Jeff Hauser, The New Republic, 22 Sep. 2020

Last Updated: 20 Dec 2024