English Explanatory Dictionary

cleam

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To smear, rub on, or anoint; to bedaub with an oily or sticky substance.
  2. To cause to stick; to glue on.
  3. To stick, cling to, or adhere.

Pronunciation

/kliːm/ /klim/

Word forms

cleam cleams cleaming cleamed clame claim

Etymology

From Middle English clemen, from Old English clǣman (“to smear, anoint”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaimijan, from Proto-Germanic *klaimijaną (“to smear with clay, mortar”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to stick, glue”).

Related words

clam clammy clay cloam
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on C Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary