GUM

I. noun Etymology: Middle English gome, from Old English gōma palate; akin to Old High German guomo palate, and perhaps to Greek chaos abyss Date: before 12th century the tissue that surrounds the necks of teeth and covers the alveolar parts of the jaws, II. transitive verb (~med; ~ming) Date: 1777 to enlarge gullets of (a saw), to chew with the ~s, III. noun Etymology: Middle English gomme, from Middle French, from Latin cummi, ~mi, from Greek kommi, from Egyptian qmyt Date: 14th century 1. any of numerous colloidal polysaccharide substances of plant origin that are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying and are salts of complex organic acids, any of various plant exudates (as an oleoresin or ~ resin), a substance or deposit resembling a plant ~ (as in sticky or adhesive quality), 3. a tree (as a black ~) that yields ~, eucalyptus , the wood or lumber of a ~, chewing ~ , IV. verb (~med; ~ming) Date: 1597 transitive verb to clog, impede, or damage with or as if with ~ , intransitive verb to exude or form ~, to become ~my, ~mer noun