1. That which hinders or impedes motion; hence, an encumbrance, restraint, or impediment, of any kind. All the ancient, honest, juridical principles and institutions of England are so many clogs to check and retard the headlong course of violence and opression. Burke.
2. A weight, as a log or block of wood, attached to a man or an
animal to hinder motion.
As a dog . . . but chance breaks loose, And quits his clog. Hudibras.
A clog of lead was round my feet. Tennyson.
3. A shoe, or sandal, intended to protect the feet from wet, or to increase the apparent stature, and having, therefore, a very thick sole. Cf. Chopine. In France the peasantry goes barefoot; and the middle sort . . . makes use of wooden clogs. Harvey. Clog almanac, a primitive kind of almanac or calendar, formerly used in England, made by cutting notches and figures on the four edges of a clog, or square piece of wood, brass, or bone; — called also a Runic staff, from the Runic characters used in the numerical notation. — Clog dance, a dance performed by a person wearing clogs, or thick-soled shoes. — Clog dancer.
CLOG
Clog, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Clogged; p. pr. & vb. n. Clogging.]
1. To encumber or load, especially with something that impedes motion; to hamper. The winds of birds were clogged with ace and snow. Dryden.
2. To obstruct so as to hinder motion in or through; to choke up; as, to clog a tube or a channel.
3. To burden; to trammel; to embarrass; to perplex. The commodities are clogged with impositions. Addison. You 'll rue the time That clogs me with this answer. Shak.
Syn.
— Impede; hinder; obstruct; embarrass; burden; restrain; restrict.
CLOG
Clog, v. i.
1. To become clogged; to become loaded or encumbered, as with
extraneous matter.
In working through the bone, the teeth of the saw will begin to clog.
S. Sharp.