Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An obstruction or hindrance.
- noun A weight, such as a block, attached to the leg of an animal to hinder movement.
- noun A heavy, traditionally wooden-soled shoe.
- intransitive verb To obstruct movement on or in; block up.
- intransitive verb To hamper the function or activity of; impede.
- intransitive verb To become obstructed or choked up.
- intransitive verb To thicken or stick together; clot.
- intransitive verb To do a clog dance.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To impede the movements of; encumber; hamper; hobble, as by a chain, a rope, a block of wood, or the like: as, to
clog a bullock to prevent it from leaping fences; to clog a wheel. - To restrain; confine.
- To choke up; obstruct so as to hinder passage through: as, to
clog a tube; to clog a vein. - Figuratively, to throw obstacles in the way of; encumber; hinder; burden; trammel; hamper: as, to
clog commerce with restrictions. - Synonyms To shackle, fetter, restrain, cumber, embarrass, restrict.
- To become loaded, encumbered, or choked up with extraneous matter.
- To coalesce; unite and adhere in a cluster or mass; stick together.
- noun A block or mass of anything constituting an encumbrance.
- noun Specifically— A block of wood or other material fastened to an animal, as by a rope or chain to its leg, to impede its movements.
- noun A block of wood fastened to or placed under the wheel of a vehicle to serve as a brake in descending a hill.
- noun Hence Any encumbrance; anything that hinders motion or action, physical or moral, or renders it difficult; a hindrance or impediment.
- noun Same as
clog-almanac . - noun A cone of the pine or other coniferous tree.
- noun A kind of shoe with a very thick sole and high heels, worn either alone or as an overshoe.
- noun Hence A similar shoe used in the modern clog-dance.
- noun A clog-dance.
- noun In coal-mining, a short piece of timber placed between a prop and the roof which it helps to support.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To become clogged; to become loaded or encumbered, as with extraneous matter.
- intransitive verb To coalesce or adhere; to unite in a mass.
- transitive verb To encumber or load, especially with something that impedes motion; to hamper.
- transitive verb To obstruct so as to hinder motion in or through; to choke up.
- transitive verb To burden; to trammel; to embarrass; to perplex.
- noun That which hinders or impedes motion; hence, an encumbrance, restraint, or impediment, of any kind.
- noun A weight, as a log or block of wood, attached to a man or an animal to hinder motion.
- noun 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 . - noun a primitive kind of almanac or calendar, formerly used in England, made by cutting notches and figures on the four edges of a clog, or square piece of wood, brass, or bone; -- called also a
Runic staff , from the Runic characters used in the numerical notation. - noun a dance performed by a person wearing clogs, or thick-soled shoes.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A type of
shoe with aninflexible , oftenwooden sole sometimes with an openheel . - noun A
blockage . - noun UK, colloquial A
shoe of any type. - verb To
block orslow passage through (often with 'up').
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any object that acts as a hindrance or obstruction
- verb impede with a clog or as if with a clog
- noun footwear usually with wooden soles
- verb coalesce or unite in a mass
- noun a dance performed while wearing shoes with wooden soles; has heavy stamping steps
- verb fill to excess so that function is impaired
- verb dance a clog dance
- verb impede the motion of, as with a chain or a burden
- verb become or cause to become obstructed
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I should call that company and when they arrive tell them, “Sorry Mario, but the clog is in another castle,” and promptly slam the door.
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Their jollity and enthusiasm are unbounded, expressing itself in clog dances and rousing old songs often in sharp contrast to the overworked, worn aspects of the members.
Twenty Years at Hull-House, With Autobiographical Notes 1910
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Gary Dourdan (presenter and CSI star) admitted to wearing makeup on a daily basis and was so happy to find one that won’t clog is pores.?
Dermacia Breathable Foundations and Skincare Treated Country Music’s Biggest Stars at the ACMAs 2007
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It is fiercely vigorous, but in its execution there is no attempt at gracefulness; no attention to positions, of which the old dancing-masters told us there were five; there was little attempt at step—it was simply ‘jigging’ or as sometimes called clog dancing.
A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010
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In Irish clog dancing, the wooden footwear is used by striking the heel or toe against the floor to create percussive, syncopated, “off-beat” or “downbeat” rhythms.
A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010
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I have some doctor friends, and they swear by the Birk "professional" clog, which is tough and washable.
I am writing about zee shoes. Ziz ees shocking you, non? 2005
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So Rossetti; the Shelley editions, 1818 and 1839, read clog, which is retained by Forman, Dowden, and Woodberry.
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The clog is a well-named hindrance to civilization in the waste of time it compels.
Evolution Of The Japanese, Social And Psychic Sidney Lewis Gulick 1902
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A clog might be a dream of beauty, and, if not too high or too heavy, most comfortable also.
Miscellanies Oscar Wilde 1877
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So Rossetti; the Shelley editions, 1818 and 1839, read clog, which is retained by Forman, Dowden, and Woodberry.
The Complete Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 3 Percy Bysshe Shelley 1807
vanishedone commented on the word clog
Mysterious, doughy, unknown blob clogs sewer: 'Jones said crews opened a manhole at the Bates Street intersection and saw the clog - an oozing, white blob that looks like uncooked dough.'
January 25, 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word clog
The word clog is found in The American College Dictionary definition for jackanapes: "1. a pert, presuming man; whippersnapper. 2. Archaic. an ape or monkey. (var. of ME Jack Napes, nickname of William, Duke of Suffolk, whose badge was an ape's clog and chain; prob. orig. used as name for tame ape or monkey)."
August 26, 2010
bilby commented on the word clog
From etymonline.com
"clog (n.)
early 14c., clogge "a lump of wood," origin unknown. Also used in Middle English of large pieces of jewelry and large testicles. Compare Norwegian klugu "knotty log of wood." Meaning "anything that impedes action" is from 1520s, via the notion of "block or mass constituting an encumbrance."
The sense of "wooden-soled shoe" is first recorded late 14c.; they were used as overshoes until the introduction of rubbers c. 1840. Originally all of wood (hence the name), later wooden soles with leather uppers for the front of the foot only. Later revived in fashion (c. 1970), primarily for women. Clog-dancing "dancing performed in clogs" is attested from 1863."
July 8, 2021