clogging

clogging is the present participle and gerund of clog.

Noun

clogging (plural cloggings)

The situation of something being clogged.
- This feature has been found effective in reducing injector trouble, resulting either from the clogging of sieves or the choking of the annular orifices of the injectors by fine particles of coal.1957 October, “Modification of "West Country" Class Pacific”, in Railway Magazine, page 731
- The biofilm is allowed to develop uninhibited which leads to local cloggings.2002, M. Henze, Wastewater Treatment: Biological and Chemical Processes
The material that clogs or obstructs.
- No cloggings, lumps of dirt, or underlocks should be suffered to be rolled up with the fleece, as such a practice is unfair to the purchaser, and by act of parliament there is a heavy penalty attached to those who are convicted of doing it.1839, British Farmer's Magazine, volume 3, page 187

Meaning of clog

Verb

clog (third-person singular simple present clogs, present participle clogging, simple past and past participle clogged)

To block or slow passage through (often with 'up').
- Around 25 million pounds of used Mardi Gras beads are thrown away every year. Several years ago, in 2018, 46 tons of them clogged New Orleans' storm drains after heavy flooding.2026 February 17, Simmone Shah, “Biodegradable Beads Are Helping Mardi Gras Go Green”, in TIME, archived from the original on 25 Feb 2026
To encumber or load, especially with something that impedes motion; to hamper.
- The wings of winds were clogged with ice and snow.1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
To burden; to trammel; to embarrass; to perplex.
- The commodities […]are clogged with impositions.1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
To enforce a mortgage lender right that prevents a borrower from exercising a right to redeem.
- For centuries it has been the rule that a mortgagor’s equity of redemption cannot be clogged and that he cannot, as a part of the original mortgage transaction, cut off or surrender his right to redeem. Any agreement which does so is void and unenforceable as against public policy.1973, Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. Doerr, 123 N.J. Super. 530, 544, 303 A.2d 898.
(intransitive) To perform a clog dance.
- And in a burst of Celtic drums and fiddles, a bosomy colleen with a jaunty green hat and suit jacket riverdanced onto the stage, clogging with a surprising degree of expertise, barely restrained breasts jiggling.2014, Jeff Abbott, Cut and Run

See all 10 meanings of clog

Forms of clogging

plural	cloggings

Words formed from clogging

Phrases with clogging

clogging up

Questions about clogging

What does clogging mean?: Clogging means the situation of something being clogged.
What is clogging the present participle and gerund of?: Clogging is the present participle and gerund of clog.
What part of speech is clogging?: Clogging is a noun.
What is the plural of clogging?: The plural of clogging is cloggings.

Words near clogging in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: clogging (page history and authors); clog (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “clogging.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clogging. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.