gum up the works

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

gum up the works

Where it comes from

From gum up + the works.

verb gums up the works · gumming up the works · gummed up the works

informal Synonym of throw a spanner in the works.
Similar: throw a spanner in the works

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"gum up the works." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gum%20up%20the%20works. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

gum up the works. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gum%20up%20the%20works

Chicago

"gum up the works." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gum%20up%20the%20works.

BibTeX

@misc{gum_up_the_works_2026,
  title = {gum up the works},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gum%20up%20the%20works},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}