Etymology Alteration of dialectal clam, claum (“to grope or grasp ineffectually, snatch”), from Middle English *clammen, *clemmen, from Old English clæmman, clemman, from Proto-West Germanic *klammjan, from Proto-Germanic *klamjaną. In some senses, likely influenced by clamber. Compare dialectal glaump, glamp (“to grasp, snatch at, clutch, grope", also "gulp”), Scots clam, claum (“to grope or grasp ineffectually, snatch”), Norwegian klemme (“to seize with claws”), Middle High German klemmen (“to squeeze”). Doublet of glom. Related also to English clamp.
1
Ireland, Scotland To grasp or snatch (at), usually feebly or ineffectually; to grope (at) with the hands, as in the dark.
My heart, for fear, gaed sough for sough, / To hear the thuds, and see the cluds / O' clans frae woods, in tartan duds, / Wha glaum'd at kingdoms three.1789, “The Battle of Sherramuir”, Burns, Robert (lyrics):
"Few get what they glaum at."1895, The Chautauquan: Organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, page 194:
3 more examples
She plays a game of blind-man's bute, / Glaums at the first she touches; / Even if the coof has coin enough, / She multiplies his riches.1908, The Caledonian, page 82:
"Katty, Katty Regan, for God's sake" he cried, all in a breath, his voice wild and high with surprise and despair, his hand glauming at nothing. Only with her last word had her own voice broken from her, letting him know whose[…]1914, Joseph Mary Plunkett, The Irish Review, page 246:
... used to be always embracing me Josie whenever he was there meaning him of course glauming me over and when I said I washed up and down as sar as possible asking me did you wash[…]2008 April 17, James Joyce, Ulysses, Oxford Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 695:
Pádraig Ó Cíobháin, of An Spidéal, heard the word glauming from his mother-in-law , Kathleen Lanigan, in Kilkenny. The good lady offered this gloss: 'She'd be going around the house glauming for something - searching for [it].'1999, Diarmaid Ó Muirithe, The Words We Use: Collection 3, volume 3, page 43:
Linda eyed Teddy intently, he was still glauming his mind for something, anything. He was not giving up. Linda asked himself, just what happened to this guy? Tina was still sulking from the balcony, Mrs Abebe attempted throughout the[…]2022 October 19, Bongani Prince Zwane, The Ballarag's imagination Rush, Ukiyoto Publishing, →ISBN, page 213:
Etymology From Middle English gloumen, glomen (“to look glum or sullen, scowl, frown at, lower”), from Old Norse glám- (in compounds), cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk glåma (“to stare”).
I drop my bantering side, glauming a hard frown. “Why would your clients not want you to execute on these in full? Obviously you have a skilled eye for dramatic impact. And I know naught of intricate fashion construction,[…]2022 January 25, Angel Payne, Misadventures with a Duke, Waterhouse Press, →ISBN:
2
To look (at), to stare (at).
He drummed on the table, glauming at me and through me until I wondered if I should count the interview ended. Then of a sudden he shouted, […]1954, Margaret Cooper Gay, Hatchet in the Sky, a Novel, New York : Simon and Schuster: