clog Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun footwear usually with wooden soles
    geta; patten; sabot.
  2. noun any object that acts as a hindrance or obstruction
  3. noun a dance performed while wearing shoes with wooden soles; has heavy stamping steps
    clog dance; clog dancing.
  4. verb become or cause to become obstructed
    congest; choke; foul; clog up; choke off; back up.
    • The leaves clog our drains in the Fall
    • The water pipe is backed up
  5. verb dance a clog dance
  6. verb impede the motion of, as with a chain or a burden
    • horses were clogged until they were tamed
  7. verb impede with a clog or as if with a clog
    constipate.
    • The market is being clogged by these operations
    • My mind is constipated today
  8. verb coalesce or unite in a mass
    clot.
    • Blood clots
  9. verb fill to excess so that function is impaired
    overload.
    • Fear clogged her mind
    • The story was clogged with too many details

WordNet

Clog noun
Etymology
OE. clogge clog, Scot. clag, n., a clot, v., to to obstruct, cover with mud or anything adhesive; prob. of the same origin as E. clay.
Definitions
  1. That which hinders or impedes motion; hence, an encumbrance, restraint, or impediment, of any kind.
    All the ancient, honest, juridical principles and institutions of England are so many clogs to check and retard the headlong course of violence and opression. Burke.
  2. A weight, as a log or block of wood, attached to a man or an animal to hinder motion.
    As a dog . . . but chance breaks loose, And quits his clog. Hudibras.
    A clog of lead was round my feet. Tennyson.
  3. A shoe, or sandal, intended to protect the feet from wet, or to increase the apparent stature, and having, therefore, a very thick sole. Cf. Chopine.
    In France the peasantry goes barefoot; and the middle sort . . . makes use of wooden clogs. Harvey.
Clog transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Clogged ; present participle & verbal noun Clogging
Definitions
  1. To encumber or load, especially with something that impedes motion; to hamper.
    The winds of birds were clogged with ace and snow. Dryden.
  2. To obstruct so as to hinder motion in or through; to choke up; as, to clog a tube or a channel.
  3. To burden; to trammel; to embarrass; to perplex.
    The commodities are clogged with impositions. Addison.
    You 'll rue the time That clogs me with this answer. Shak.
    Syn. -- Impede; hinder; obstruct; embarrass; burden; restrain; restrict.
Clog intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To become clogged; to become loaded or encumbered, as with extraneous matter.
    In working through the bone, the teeth of the saw will begin to clog. S. Sharp.
  2. To coalesce or adhere; to unite in a mass.
    Move it sometimes with a broom, that the seeds clog not together. Evelyn.

Webster 1913