How to Use gum up (something) in a Sentence

gum up (something)

phrase

• This allows the meat to go through the grinder easily and not gum up.
  — Joe McKendry, WSJ, 28 July 2022
• 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
• But Democrats can still use procedural gimmicks to gum up the works.
  — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Twin Cities, 24 Nov. 2024
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• His return and insistence on taking the reins of the family business will only gum up the works.
  — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 29 Feb. 2024
• That could gum up the trade market at large, particularly for teams searching for multiple first-round picks.
  — Bryan Toporek, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2024
• Would this accelerate photosynthesis or just gum up the works?
  — Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2021
• But Disney lawyers had another idea to gum up DeSantis’ plan.
  — Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2023
• Each can gum up different gears in the immune system’s intricate machinery.
  — Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Science | AAAS, 27 Apr. 2021
• 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
• Another is that ― exactly as happened here ― folks who don't like a new statute should not be allowed to gum up the enforcement of the new statute at the last second.
  — Jay Adkisson, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• For a number of reasons, too many of them can gum up the works and make the muscles less responsive to signals from the brain, producing what’s called peripheral fatigue.
  — Outside Online, 16 Jan. 2025
• Unlike gasoline, propane is very stable and won’t gum up carburetors or other components when stored for long periods between use or from storm seasons.
  — Bradley Ford, Popular Mechanics, 17 Mar. 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
• 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
• 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
• As the second season wears on, this notion warps the plot in ways that strain credulity, and the series’ innumerable cliffhangers gum up the narrative with artificial tension.
  — Daniel A. Gross, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2025
• 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
• Several marine experts had speculated that dirty fuel – a common problem in commercial vessels and one that can gum up an engine – could have played a role in the ship's power outage.
  — Emily Le Coz, USA TODAY, 14 May 2024
• 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
• Without any outside threat, opposing defenses felt comfortable packing the paint to gum up the offense around Reese and Cardoso, who were limited as a result.
  — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 7 Feb. 2025