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Entry 8 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Clog

/(klŏg)/ · IPA /klɑɡ/
01 n. That which hinders or impedes motion; hence, an encumbrance, restraint, or impediment, of any kind.
  1. 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. 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. 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. See: Chopine
    “In France the peasantry goes barefoot; and the middle sort . . . makes use of wooden clogs.” — Harvey.
Phrases & compounds
Clog almanac — 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.
Clog dance — a dance performed by a person wearing clogs, or thick-soled shoes.
02 v. t. To encumber or load, especially with something that impedes motion; to hamper.
imp. & p. p. Clogged; p. pr. & vb. n. Clogging
  1. 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. 2.
    To obstruct so as to hinder motion in or through; to choke up; as, to clog a tube or a channel.
  3. 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.
03 v. i. To become clogged; to become loaded or encumbered, as with extraneous matter.
  1. 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. 2.
    To coalesce or adhere; to unite in a mass.
    “Move it sometimes with a broom, that the seeds clog not together.” — Evelyn.