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
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Only one senator needs to object to gum up the process.
—Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 Dec. 2021
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Unlike beta-amyloid, these gum up the inside of neurons.
—Sara Harrison, Wired, 26 Jan. 2022
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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
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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
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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
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But Disney lawyers had another idea to gum up DeSantis’ plan.
—Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2023
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Would this accelerate photosynthesis or just gum up the works?
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2021
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Each can gum up different gears in the immune system’s intricate machinery.
—Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Science | AAAS, 27 Apr. 2021
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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
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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
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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
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Those committees have been able to advance legislation and nominations, but Republicans have been able to gum up the works to some degree thanks to tie votes and the procedural hurdles that come with them.
—Aaron Blake, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Dec. 2022
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And central to those rules, set out in a document known as an organizing resolution, is whether a lone Senator in the minority can gum up the entire agenda via the filibuster.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 22 Jan. 2021
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gum up (something).' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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