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gum up the works

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gum up the works

to prevent a machine or system from operating correctly The project was going really well until that software upgrade gummed up the works.

Related vocabulary: gum up something

See also: gum, up, work

gum up the works

to prevent a machine or system from operating correctly In bad weather, twice as many people use their cars on the road, which really gums up the works.

See be up a gum tree

See also: gum, up, work