gummy

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: gŭmʹi, IPA^(key): /ˈɡʌmi/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ʌmi

Etymology 1

gum (“flesh around teeth”) +‎ -y.

Adjective

gummy (comparative gummier, superlative gummiest)

1. Showing the gums.

   a gummy grin

Derived terms

• gummily
• gumminess
• gummy weed

Noun

gummy (plural gummies)

1. (Australia) Clipping of gummy shark.
   • 2000, Paul Worsteling, Fishing Western Port, page 12:

     Over there [the UK], gummies are called smooth hound and a six kilo fish would stop the nation.

   • 2007, Bill Classon, Fishing Guide to Victoria′s Coastline, Australian Fishing Network, page 60,

     Western Port is a great location to find gummies. […] Gummy sharks are one of the favoured species in Western Port and for good reason: they put up a strong fight and feed of fresh flake is pretty hard to beat.

   • 2008, Rex Hunt, Fishing Guide to Melbourne and Surrounds, page 44:

     This area of vast mudflats is right at the top of the port is home to some of the best gummy shark fishing around. […] As the water drops, the feeding gummies drop off the banks and wait in the channels for food.

2. (Australia, New Zealand) A sheep that is losing or has lost its teeth.

Etymology 2

gum (“(substance)”) +‎ -y. The noun was influenced by gummi (from German).

Adjective

gummy (comparative gummier, superlative gummiest)

1. Resembling gum (the substance).
2. Covered with gum or a substance resembling gum.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     the gummie bark of Firr or Pine

   • 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Third Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:

     Then rubs his gummy eyes.

3. (archaic, slang) Thick; fat.
   • 1857, Charles Waterton, Essays on Natural History: 3d Series, page 202:

     Probably, in times gone by, when flowing gowns were seldom worn in England, some fashionable dame of high degree, having splay feet, or gummy ankles, might have put them under cover.

Synonyms

• (resembling gum, the substance): gluey, gooey, sticky, tacky

Derived terms

• gumminess
• gummy bear
• gummy tumor
• gummy tumour

Related terms

• chewing-gummy

 

References

• (thick, fat): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary

Noun

gummy (plural gummies)

1. (usually in the plural) A gummi candy.
   • c 2011, Gabrielle Tan, Different Colour Can Mix True or False?:

     I opened the fridge to take out my lunch and gave her a gummy. She licked my hand gratefully as I placed the food into the microwave and when it was heated up, she watched me eat and when I was done, she licked my plate happily.

   • 2010, Linda A. Dixon, Cupcakes for Cristina!:

     Cristina hands him a gummy but holds tight to her cupcake, for she's still working on it, and doesn't want to set it free yet.

Derived terms

• gummy bear
• gummy worm

Translations

gelatinous candy — see gummi

See also

• by gummy

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡumɪ]
• Rhymes: -umɪ
• Hyphenation: gum‧my

Noun

gummy

1. genitive singular of gumma (gum, rubber)