GUM (3)

Gum, n. [[OE. gomme, gumme, F. gomme, L. gummi and commis, fr. Gr. �, prob. from an Egyptian form kam�; cf. It. gomma.]] 1. 1. A vegetable secretion of many trees or plants that hardens when it exudes, but is soluble in water; as, gum arabic; gum tragacanth; the gum of the cherry tree. Also, with less propriety, exudations that are not soluble in water; as, gum copal and gum sandarac, which are really resins.
2. 2. (Bot.) See Gum tree, below.
3. 3. A hive made of a section of a hollow gum tree; hence, any roughly made hive; also, a vessel or bin made of a hollow log.
4. 4. A rubber overshoe.
Black gum, Blue gum, British gum, etc. See under Black, Blue, etc. — Gum Acaroidea, the resinous gum of the Australian grass tree (Xanlhorrhœa). — Gum animal (Zoöl.), the galago of West Africa; — so called because it feeds on gums. See Galago. — Gum animi or animé. See Animé. — Gum arabic, a gum yielded mostly by several species of Acacia (chiefly A. vera and A. Arabica) growing in Africa and Southern Asia; — called also gum acacia. East Indian gum arabic comes from a tree of the Orange family which bears the elephant apple. — Gum butea, a gum yielded by the Indian plants Butea frondosa and B. superba, and used locally in tanning and in precipitating indigo. — Gum cistus, a plant of the genus Cistus (Cistus ladaniferus), a species of rock rose. — Gum dragon. See Tragacanth. — Gum elastic, Elastic gum. See Caoutchouc. — Gum elemi. See Elemi. — Gum juniper. See Sandarac. — Gum kino. See under Kino. — Gum lac. See Lac. — Gum Ladanum, a fragrant gum yielded by several Oriental species of Cistus or rock rose. — Gum passages, sap receptacles extending through the parenchyma of certain plants (Amygdalaceæ, Cactaceæ, etc.), and affording passage for gum. — Gum pot, a varnish maker's utensil for melting gum and mixing other ingredients. — Gum resin, the milky juice of a plant solidified by exposure to air; one of certain inspissated saps, mixtures of, or having properties of, gum and resin; a resin containing more or less mucilaginous and gummy matter. — Gum sandarac. See Sandarac. — Gum Senegal, a gum similar to gum arabic, yielded by trees (Acacia Verek and A. Adansoniä) growing in the Senegal country, West Africa. — Gum tragacanth. See Tragacanth. — Gum tree, the name given to several trees in America and Australia: (a) The black gum (Nyssa multiflora), one of the largest trees of the Southern States, bearing a small blue fruit, the favorite food of the opossum. Most of the large trees become hollow. (b) A tree of the genus Eucalyptus. See Eucalpytus. (c) The sweet gum tree of the United States (Liquidambar styraciflua), a large and beautiful tree with pointedly lobed leaves and woody burlike fruit. It exudes an aromatic terebinthine juice. — Gum water, a solution of gum, esp. of gum arabic, in water. — Gum wood, the wood of any gum tree, esp. the wood of the Eucalyptus piperita, of New South Wales.